


Sarcasm and Puns

by MaliceAlyce



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Anxiety, Bad Flirting, Bad Puns, Cinnamon Roll Papyrus, Drugs, Drunk Texting, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Female Frisk, Female Reader, Fluff, Friendship, Just Add Kittens, Light Angst, M/M, Mute Frisk, Ok maybe moderate angst, Original Character(s), Past Abuse, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reader Is Not Frisk, SO MUCH FLUFF, Slow Burn, Swearing, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2018-12-31 10:16:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 32,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12130296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaliceAlyce/pseuds/MaliceAlyce
Summary: You're an introverted person, have been all of your life but it wasn't as if you were shy, you were just content to have your only friends be your brother and your roommate. Though when your brother's young daughter makes friends with the human ambassador of monsters you open up to the idea of having a larger group of friends.-This is the new and improved Sarcasm and Puns!-Everything seems much slower in autumn, the chill in the air causes the world to screech to a crawl as the leaves change, even the city seemed less lively. You always thought this was true but over the course of the last couple of years you discovered there was an exception to the hushed state that this time of year brought. This break from the lull of dreary, sluggish afternoons came in the form of a hyper six year old, fresh out of school, tugging you towards the playground with the single minded determination of a freight train.Slow burn, like really slow and lots of friendship with the whole group





	1. Niece's New Friend

**Author's Note:**

> OK, so here it is!  
> I am planning to post once every Monday, but don't get too upset if it happens every other Monday.  
> For the first couple of chapters the changes won't be too drastic but I hope you appreciate the small changes too.  
> I hope to see familiar faces and some new ones!  
> Leave me some comments!

Everything seems much slower in autumn, the chill in the air causes the world to screech to a crawl as the leaves change and start to fall. Even the city seemed less lively in the wake of the world cooling down. You always thought this, but over the course of the last couple of years you’ve made a discovery: there was an exception to the hushed state that this time of year brought. This break from the lull of dreary, sluggish afternoons came in the form of a hyper six-year-old, fresh out of school, tugging you towards the playground with the single-minded determination of a freight train. When your niece saw a swing set any attempt at stopping her was futile. She did hold your hand, like she knew she had to, even though she was bubbling with boundless energy. At least she did what she knew she must until she was comfortably inside of the playground area of the park, but after that she frantically slung her backpack off and continued her warpath towards the empty swing.

  
"Stay where I can see you!" You called out to her loudly as she ran off.

  
"Uh huh!" She answered back, flinging a hand up to show she heard you, but not turning around. She was already halfway across the park, barely dodging the few other children in her way as she answered.

  
You chuckled at her enthusiasm, shaking your head in amusement as you stooped down, picking up her small backpack. You watched as she hurled herself happily onto the empty swing next to a slightly older looking, androgynous child as she giggled manically. You tore yourself away from watching her for a moment to glance around the park, noticing there was only a few close benches with a good line of sight to your niece. Most of the seats were fully inhabited by mothers, tired joggers, and others reading or just taking the time to bird watch, but you noticed one bench with a great view of the swings only had one other occupant, leaving you plenty of room to comfortably outlast the burst of after-school energy you know your niece had to burn through. You located it quickly, hardly even registering the other person on the bench as you hoisted the small backpack on one shoulder and darted your eyes consistently back to the swing set.

  
Moving closer, you noticed the other person sitting on the bench was quite a bit larger and taller than you thought at first glance. It was a woman, you were pretty sure, who appeared to be rather feminine but also very imposing. You realized that you should probably find her intimidating, but there was just something about her that seemed far too kind for you to worry too much about it. She was an ethereal, goat-like creature covered in pristine white fur and wearing a long, flowing deep purple dress with a lighter purple sweater overtop it. She was a creature that somehow exuded grace and obviously had to be one of the monsters that had made a surprise appearance out of Mt. Ebott over the last two years or so.

  
As you got closer, you started to notice just how motherly she looked. Her nose, or maybe it was considered a snout, held a delicately balanced pair of reading glasses and was buried in a thick tome which she occasionally looked up from. Her eyes darted out towards the playground before resettling back into reading in a natural rhythm. You bit your bottom lip as you watched, unable to stop yourself, out of sheer curiosity, from checking the small crowd of children for similar features on one of them. While there were a couple of monster children mixed in enjoying the park none of them looked much like her, however you rarely saw too many of the same type of monster anyway. You shrugged it off as another weird magic thing you were sure you would never fully grasp as you checked in on your niece.  
You picked her out of the crowd easily as she was still swinging next to the same child as earlier and seemed fully enraptured in whatever story she was weaving to them. The other child nodded along. You were relieved that the other kid didn't look bored or annoyed with her. You smiled fondly at their innocent interaction, glad that your niece seemed to be finally fitting into the new town. Suddenly drawn back to the moment, you realized you have probably been standing awkwardly next to the bench staring at the swing set for too long.

  
"Excuse me?" You said, hoping to gain the older woman's attention. Even you could hear the forced cheer and politeness in your voice. You hoped she didn’t find it offensive, it was really just your default voice when talking to strangers.  
You were somewhat glad that she was evidently surprised to hear someone so close to her and she hadn’t noticed your awkward standing around. She very quickly regained her composure, turning to face you with a slight smile that displayed the small fangs she had along with her large, dark red eyes. They weren’t just soulless orbs either they were intensely expressive. You stalled out for just a moment as you stared at her, worrying your bottom lip again, you somehow just barely managed to keep any utterance of how strangely beautiful she looked to yourself.

  
"Yes, my chi-" her soft, lilting voice paused mid-sentence before starting again, correcting itself. "Yes, may I help you?" She looked up at you with an expression that conveyed she was genuinely willing to help if not just curious. You again watched her strangely colored eyes, convinced they showed more intention and emotion than any human eyes you’d ever seen.

  
"I uh, I was just wondering if I could sit here." You stumbled through the words and gestured to the empty space on the bench to emphasize your point. At this point you could only hope you didn’t look as awkward and dumb as you felt.

  
"Oh, of course." She smiled brightly even while looking somewhat surprised by your request. She was already scooting over before she looked back up shyly. "If you wish." She amended as if you weren’t the one asking something from her, but rather as though she was imposing on you.

  
You shrugged in a way that you hoped looked nonchalant but felt kind of dopey. Either way, you gave her a reassuring smile before dropping your niece's backpack on the ground nearby, taking the offered seat. The two of you sat in silence for what was probably only a few seconds, even though it felt like forever. She closed her book, resting it neatly on her lap, continuing to not speak. It was like she was giving you the option to start a conversation without worrying about interrupting her. It wasn't as though you had no social skills, no matter what your brother said, or as if you had some sort of panic attack when talking to people. You weren't shy, just introverted. Not being the biggest ‘people person,’ you always felt odd starting conversations.  
"So uh… so, books are a thing, huh?" You cringed at yourself as you heard it come out of your mouth, silently cursing your brain for letting you say that.

  
She brought her hand up to her mouth in a vain attempt to muffle her sudden fit of soft laughter. She looked at you, immediately apologetic as her laughter petered out. "Yes, I suppose they are. Do you enjoy reading?" She asked mercifully, showing she understood what you were getting at and was not going to make fun of your fumbled words.

  
"Yeah, I kind of wish I thought to bring something to read, I'll probably be here a while." You sighed in relief when that thought came out more coherently than the last. "Well, maybe if I knew I'd be coming out here I would have planned better." You chuckled a bit in a self-deprecating manner.

  
"Ah, a spontaneous trip to the park?" She asked with an amused smile.

  
"Yeah, well sort of." You shrugged attempting to return the smile. "My brother called me last minute asking me to pick up his kid from school, and I figured I'd let her run off some energy before taking her home." You explained before catching yourself, wondering why you were telling her all of this. You didn't even know this woman's name and yet you felt comfortable talking to her. You briefly questioned if it was something to do with magic, like an aura she gave off or maybe it was simply just faith in your own good judge of character. Though most likely you were just so glad your words weren’t coming out as gibberish anymore so you didn’t want to stop while you were ahead. Either way it was probably nicer than the default sarcastic remark you would have made to anyone you knew, so that was a small victory in and of itself. You didn’t even know why you were freaking out about it. It wasn't like you spilled your life story to her, so you decided it wasn't too bad to confide in her a little. "What about you? Come out here to read a lot?" You asked, thinking turnabout was fair play so you might as well ask her for her story as well.

  
Her eyes shone fondly and looked as if she was about to respond when you heard your niece call your name.  
"Oh! Uh, sorry, hold that thought." You smiled a little sheepishly as you cut off her answer. "Yeah kiddo?" You called back, whipping around to see her running over to you hand in hand with the child you recognized from the swings.

  
The two kids came to an instant halt standing in front of you. You always found it a little amazing how kids could so easily go from running at full speed to abruptly still so quickly and casually. You took in the sight of the kid that your niece had latched onto and up close you could pick out the subtly more feminine features on them, but you still chose not to make the guess until you were sure so instead you politely nodded at them in greeting before your niece regained your full attention.

  
"Making new friends Morrigan?" You asked, your voice easily falling away from its earlier hapless stumble into the friendlier, happier tone you couldn’t help but use when talking to children.

  
"Uh huh uh huh.” She nodded emphatically but didn’t give you a moment to respond before immediately launching into her story. “So, I was on the swings and she was like swinging like really, really, REALLY high" Morrigan was in full babbling rant mode, dropping the other child's hand to make wild gestures to accompany her voice as she spoke. "and we like, like we swinged and so I was like you swing really really high and she took her hands off the swings! She moved her hands a lot like that guy Daddy works with!" Morrigan rushed to try and recreate sign language clumsily before giving up in a small huff and continuing her story. "Daddy says he talks with his hands! So, I asked her if she does too and she does but, but, but I felt really bad she couldn't talk too so I talked and she listened lots!" Morrigan beamed up at you proudly as she finished her story. From the moment she knew how to string more than one word you thought that she definitely could talk enough for two and now that you had proof you couldn't help but find it cute as hell.

  
"Oh yeah?" You looked from Morrigan to the other kid who nodded in agreement to your niece's story. So not deaf, maybe mute you mused briefly. You grinned at the two of them and ruffled your niece's hair. "Sounds fun, I told you that you would make friends here." Morrigan stood a little straighter, looking very pleased that she managed to make a friend in the city, not noticing that said friend had moved from her side.

  
The movement beside you on the bench reminded you that the monster was still there. You glanced up to her, about to say something, when you saw the older child hug the goat-like woman.

  
You were a little surprised to see the interaction as the child began to sign eagerly to the woman who nodded and gave brief answers with a voice full of love and pride. You looked to Morrigan as she watched the exchange with rapt interest, her doe eyes fixated on the way her new friend's hands moved when she signed.

  
"Yes, very well." The woman nodded before turning back to focus on you and your niece. "My child wanted to let you know that her name is Frisk and she very much enjoyed meeting you Morrigan."

  
Your eyebrow furrowed for a second, piecing together the series of events that had unfolded. "Oh, so Frisk is your kid?" you asked, the events finally clicking together in your head.

  
Frisk nodded happily in an answer to your question without hesitation, but the older woman looked flustered for a moment before hesitantly also agreeing. "Yes, Frisk has been with me for a couple of years now."

  
The timid way she spoke felt out of place compared to her previous lighthearted, warm tone and the reflexive way her arm reached out to Frisk, as if ready to shield her or pull her away to leave the park in a hurry, made your heart ache in sympathy.

  
You sometimes felt people watching you when you were with Morrigan. You knew they were curious of your relationship to the small child; mother, sister, you've even been asked if you were her babysitter. You knew most of all they assumed you where her mother and judged you for your age in relation to hers and sometimes that still bothered you as much as it did when she was born and you were still a teenager. You could only imagine how much worse that had to be for her. The kind goat woman and her adopted daughter had to get more than their fair share of stares and whispers, and maybe even worse.

  
You shuddered at the thought and instantly tried to push it to the back of your mind instead of dwelling on what caused the monster to react so defensively, knowing it would only make you feel sick and mad. Instead you grinned brightly and addressed the child, "Well it's awesome to meet you and your mom Frisk."

  
You relaxed when you caught the way the tall monster seemed relieved by your response, even Frisk looked at you gratefully with a maturity in her eyes that you hadn't seen in them earlier, though it was gone as quickly as it appeared. Morrigan however, was thankfully oblivious to the brief moment of tension.

  
Frisk signed to her mom and gave her the obvious puppy dog eyes of a child asking for something.  
"I suppose I can ask." The woman replied, prompting Frisk to clap gleefully. "Frisk would like to know if Morrigan would be able to come over to play sometime."

  
Morrigan looked ecstatic by the idea and was already letting out a small string of ‘please’s’ before you even had a chance to say anything.

  
"I would uh, have to ask my brother." You answered with a slight stutter while doing your best to ignore the hopeful looks of the kids in favor of trying to act like a responsible adult. That was a surprisingly difficult task, but you managed. You were sure he would be elated to learn Morrigan made a friend and wanted to spend time with them, but probably wouldn't be as happy if you just agreed to a playdate with a stranger without even asking him.

  
"I understand, maybe I can give you my number and we could arrange a time for us all to meet?" She asked diplomatically even as Frisk was tearing through her mother’s purse for pen and paper.

  
"Yeah, I'm sure he would love to meet you..." It dawned on you in that moment that you still have not learned her name and for a moment you considered cowardly continuing without asking for it, just taking her number so your brother could figure it out later. You decided against it. "I'm sorry, I don't think I ever got around to introducing myself." You told her your name and held your hand out for her to shake.

  
"I'm Toriel." She returned the gesture and took your offered hand in her larger almost paw-like one. It was warm and soft with fur, and shook it in a gentle, friendly manner.

  
You exchanged phone numbers with Toriel and talked for a while longer while Morrigan and Frisk played. You learned that she was a teacher and that Frisk was eight-years-old, you in turn told her that your niece was six and about your job as a portrait photographer at the mall. You liked Toriel and wouldn't mind spending more time with her, even seeing her as a friend. That thought came out of nowhere and you lamented that it's been a while since you've had more friends than your brother and your best friend who was now your roommate. You have acquaintances, people you work with and maybe a few people that you had gone to college with, people that you don't mind and would talk to when you're around them but not really people you would choose to hang out with.

  
Maybe having more than two friends will be fun.


	2. The Hemsworth Debacle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey look posted a day early! A surprise gift for sticking with me through this process!  
> I'm so happy to see so many familiar faces in the comments, keep saying hi and giving me feedback I love to hear from you.

You basically had to drag Morrigan away from the park and by that time the sun had started to sink low in the sky. It wasn’t quite setting, but it was definitely getting late in the afternoon. The earlier azure expanse had been morphed into a gradient mixture of oranges that faded from red to pink to an inky indigo that was partially obscured by the looming grey clouds. These clouds seemed ever present during this time of year and they had only drawn closer together since this morning in a threat of rain, darkening further as you continued in your walk. Unaware or maybe just blissfully uncaring of the general lethargic look of the world around her your niece had held your hand and skipped the whole way back to your brother's place. She told you about her day at school, her hair and backpack bouncing along with her carefree rhythm. Morrigan finally seemed to be settling into the new city and that made you able to breathe a little easier about the decision to press your brother into moving closer to you. For the past few months she had pouted and protested about leaving all her first-grade friends behind and had seemed just as resistant to the unfamiliar school. Your brother seemed to immediately pick up on her sudden change in mood as well, happily taking Toriel’s phone number when you gave it to him in a whirlwind of relieved excitement. 

Lost in a haze of your thoughts, you barely even noticed when you came face to face with your apartment door. You chuckled to yourself. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence to find yourself suddenly home after a long session of daydreaming. You pulled your keys out of your pocket with a small smile, you were prepared to sit back on the couch and spend the remainder of your day pleasantly zoned out. Life seemed against you though. You heard a clattering noise followed by a loud yelp coming from inside the small living space. You briefly let your forehead fall against the solid wood of the door with a dull thud accompanied by an annoyed sigh that passed through your lips in a manner that felt all too routine. Pushing yourself away from the door you steadied yourself before easily managing to get it unlocked, taking a moment to mentally prepare yourself for whatever could possibly be waiting for you inside. You flung the door open, perhaps a little more dramatically than strictly necessary, though you would make an adamant argument for your theatrics. You scanned the open layout of your apartment for the source of the disturbance.

Finding it quickly, you stood in the door frame frozen in your tracks, unable to do much more than stare, slightly bewildered, because this was certainly a new sight to come home to. The living room was much more of a mess than normal. All of it seemed to culminate in a cluttered disarray towards the center of the room. You felt yourself caught somewhere between a disappointed groan and unstoppable laughter at the sheer ridiculousness of what was happening.

Your roommate was sat with his back to you, pressed against the coffee table with his legs crossed. He had gotten out what appeared to be one of your old decks of playing cards and was surrounded by what had to be a new case of shiny store-bought plastic poker chips that were scattered haphazardly across the hardwood. He had ditched his usual jacket, it lay flung across the sofa and his hair that was cut short on the sides with the top was dyed a slightly metallic cyan color was messily sticking out in nearly every direction looking like a melted mohawk. He had grabbed onto a tiny black and white kitten that squirmed and let out annoyed little mewls in his hands. He had been trying to force it to play cards, of course he was. He whined distraught when the cat knocked over one of the few stacks of chips that was still standing, even though they were stacked far too high and were bound to fall over anyway. Your recently adopted kitty mewed indignantly and wriggled again, though still weakly, in his hands trying to wander off, unamused by his antics.

"Aw, come on! You’re not even trying!" he reprimanded the cat in a huff before snuggling the small, bored animal closer to him.  
"Vincent Evan Warren. Will you stop harassing my poor kitten every time I leave you unsupervised?" you asked using your best scolding mother voice as you finally shut the door behind you and tossed your keys onto the kitchen counter.

Vincent, to his credit, managed to look sheepish for a moment at the stern use of his full name, though that quickly dropped into a child-like frown. "I'm not harassing him! I'm teaching Sir Hemsworth how to play Texas hold 'em. He's not a very good at it though."  
You sighed, failing to repress the urge to pinch the bridge of your nose in a defeated gesture even as you felt a small, amused smile start to creep its way onto your face. "His name is Hemlock." you told him calmly for the umpteenth time since you brought the kitten home.  
Vincent looked at you as if he was considering the information then lifted the cat up to his ear like a small child might when speaking to a stuffed animal, his short stature and large, round eyes completing the innocent look.

"What's that? Yes?" Vincent thoughtfully nodded along, playfully over acting. "Okay, I'll tell her." he looked up at you pulling the cat away from his face and setting the ball of monochromatic fluff down on his lap. "Sir Hemsworth says Hemlock is a depressing name and prefers the title that the Queen of Kitties bestowed upon him after he was knighted for saving that bus full of baby red pandas." he commented in an off handed manner as if it was common knowledge, already dealing new hands for himself and the tiny cat. You couldn't stop yourself from giggling maniacally because your roommate was such a child sometimes and you knew it was one of the reasons he was your best friend.

“You are a complete and utter dork.” you smirked when you stifled your laughter and regained your breath.  
He broke into the first real smile since you came in. “Na.” he waved off the comment and made a vague attempt to gather up the poker chips near him into a sloppy pile.

"You don’t get to just say ‘na’ dork.” you shook your head as you walked over to the couch.  
"Yeah, whatever. Even if I was a dork, not that I will ever admit to that, you would love me anyway." Vincent smirked pushing the cards away, abandoning the endeavor entirely, instead standing to join you.

"I'm not calling him that by the way, no matter how many dumb heroic stories you make up." you added as you slumped ungracefully down on the couch and grabbed the remote that was half buried underneath the mess he made from the table in front of you.  
"Well I'm not calling him Hemlock." he quipped back, stealing the remote out of your hand as he sat down next to you and turned on the tv.  
Immediately upon lighting up, the screen displayed a rather flamboyant looking, pink and black, humanoid robot in the middle of whatever campy straight to tv movie that was currently playing. You recognized the robotic monster immediately, flashy costume doing nothing to hide his unique appearance.

You groaned dramatically, looking from the scene to Vincent. “Really?” Vincent had overrun your TV’s DVR with Mettaton, which you couldn’t decide if it was better or worse than his previous anime obsession that ruined your Netflix queue.  
He innocently turned to give you an oblivious smile "What?" he asked. "He's pretty freaking awesome," he shrugged at your continued deadpan look of judgement. "Don't even act like you don’t binge watch his cooking show in secret like a really lame guilty pleasure." he added, ignoring your distaste to focus back on the screen.

"Well I can't watch it with you anymore.” You answered the accusation snidely.  
“What! Why?!” He gasped in indignation. 

“The last time we did together, I came home the next day and it looked like a fucking glitter bomb detonated in our kitchen." you pointed out rolling your eyes thinking about how you still found stray sparkles in there sometimes.  
"THAT WAS LIKE ONE TIME!" he protested loudly, startling Hemlock who had nearly fallen asleep in front of the tv.  
You chuckled quietly to yourself at his sudden defensive tone and hummed noncommittally.

“Well now you get no coffee.” He huffed, getting off the couch wandering off to the kitchen. You could still see him because of the open layout of your shared apartment. 

“Nooooo, you monster!” You called sarcastically after him flinging yourself dramatically across the couch with a hand across your forehead in a mock Victorian fainting spell.

Vincent couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of him. “Do you want some coffee?” He asked standing at the machine.  
“Na, I really don’t need to be up too late I got work in the morning.” You answered getting back up into a sitting position.  
“Well, that’s exactly why I need it.” He answered, easily working the machine.  
Vincent worked mostly online, but also took frequent trips out of town. He tried to explain it to you, but whenever somebody asked you what he did you gave the vague answer of ‘He works with computers or code or something.’  
Soon enough, he was in his work position, laptop on his lap and coffee nearby, face buried in the screen while still listening to the tv.  
You and Vincent stayed up for a while after that, flipping through tv channels and talking about random things that crossed your minds. This went on until it was past the point that you should have gone to bed especially since you had work so early in the morning. You grunted a good night to your friend who by now was bleary eyed and surrounded by a couple of mugs that had held an unhealthy amount of coffee. He didn't even look up from his laptop as he gave you a weak wave that ended up looking more like he was shooing you from the room. You turned the tv volume down to a whisper and lazily rolled off the sofa shuffling off to your room with Hemlock yawning and following at your heels.

As soon as you crossed the threshold you shed your jacket off and switched out your jeans for a pair of soft pajama bottoms. You collapsed on your bed before leaning over the edge to lift Hemlock up as well since he was still too small to make the jump by himself. You rolled over and found yourself falling effortlessly into a dreamless sleep for the first time in days.


	3. Work Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey it's Monday! Here is the update!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been alerted to the fact that i goofed real hard when I was reworking this story because I thought I moved this part forward in the story to chapter 11 but in reality I put it here in chapter 3... so I reworked this chapter a bit and I will hopefully have chapter 11 fixed by the time your reading this.

The sun rose, sluggishly peeking out above the horizon, muddled through the dull grey mess of muted colors that made up the city. Rays of its glaring white-gold light streamed persistently even through the thin drapes that were haphazardly closed to cover your window. The light that poured in from the gaps striped across the room blindingly, hitting your eyes. Any noise that you would have heard, from birds outside to the sounds of neighbors drifting through the walls of your apartment building were drowned out by your phone alarm that blared loudly from the pocket of last night's jeans. The combination of stimuli forcibly pulled you from sleep. Morning came all too quickly, as you knew it would considering you had only given yourself a couple hours to sleep, still you groaned groggily pulling the blanket over your head in a vain attempt to will it away so you could stay cocooned in your warm nest of a bed.

The shrill, digital chirps of your alarm won out and you couldn't listen to them any longer. You forced yourself to get up and silence its insistent beeping, your sudden movement waking Hemlock. You spared him an apologetic look as you grabbed the pants, prying the phone out of the pocket to glare at the time. You loved your job, the only drawback was having to start at such an early hour. You used to work the afternoon shift but switched over so you could leave around the same time your niece got out of school. It was definitely helpful since your brother's hours were much more sporadic than your own. There was no doubt you weren't the type of person that rose with the sun, more like a night owl, and now you had to get to work shortly after the mall opened every morning. You had never gone through more coffee than you have since starting the morning shift. The thought of coffee was what got you moving, if you were quick you could make coffee on your way to the studio.

You showered and rushed through your morning routine tying your hair back in a messy ponytail and getting dressed in the closest clean work clothes you could find. Quickly checking yourself in the mirror, straightening the white button up and black vest you wore for you job before throwing a heavy jacket on over them and tossing on a pair of boots. You slid your phone into your pocket and grabbed your messenger bag, slinging it over one shoulder before leaving your room to feed Hemlock and grab your keys from the counter. Glancing across the counter you found the coffee maker a huge mess and you scrunched your nose up in distaste. You had neither the time nor willpower to clean that and brew yourself coffee. You sighed, deciding if you hurried maybe you could stop at that little café you liked on the way to the mall.

Making your way through the living room you saw Vincent curled up on the sofa after having finally crashed, sleeping with his laptop abandoned nearby. The tv still flickered, but long since forgotten. You switched it off and went through the mental checklist in your head one last time before heading off in search of a good cup of coffee. 

With the sun rising a little higher and the world around you slowly waking up, you stopped at the small brick coffee house that had quickly become your favorite. Briefly checking the time, you pushed the door open and saw the place was predictably scarce, just barely beginning to pick up traffic of people heading to work. You did however see a small monster with orange skin and incredibly large eyes that stared intensely down at the floor. They were in a chair that was pressed up against the wall by the door, you looked at them for a moment in curiosity because they looked so lost and troubled.

When you first heard them mumble you thought you'd been caught looking and offended them until you registered the words "I came in here for a coffee but I forgot my wallet... So, I'm just going to sit in this corner and pretend I'm waiting for someone."  
Your first instinct was to laugh even though you sympathized with the awkwardness of their situation, but they seemed to be talking more to themselves than you so you kept quiet and walked over to the counter, hurried to place your order. You briefly considered buying the small monster a cup as well, but you shrugged it off, you didn’t have the time or money this morning. As you waited you felt your phone vibrate, alerting you of a text. You checked it as your name was called by the barista, seeing your brother's photo light up your screen. You grabbed your cup and nodded at the worker as you headed out of the shop. You pulled up the message managing to navigate the sidewalk that grew more crowded as you read.

'Lunch? Gotta ask you something.'

You quickly responded, telling him to meet you in the food court at noon before you put your phone away so you wouldn't be late.  
Entering the mall, you lamented your own bad habit of once again starting the work week with barely any sleep. Luckily the caffeine coursing through your veins had so far kept you pleasantly awake and distracted. 

"Hey man over here!" You were pulled out of your thoughts by the greeting and searched for the source of the airy voice.

You scanned the long, nearly empty hallway and your eyes quickly landed on her. Chandler was waving you over, making sure you knew she was the one who called out to you. Chandler worked at that trendy record store across from your studio and she gave off this breezy, bohemian vibe in everything she did. It still amazes you that you've never seen her get mad or even impatient. She was tall and curvy with short chestnut brown hair that framed her freckled face and her hazel eyes were wide and as round as her face. She stood with Nathan who was pretty much the only other person who worked at the mall that you knew well enough to eat lunch in the food court with. Nathan's dirty blonde hair poked out from his dark grey beanie in a way that was probably purposefully messy and his ice blue eyes were framed by his thick black glasses. He was lanky and angular, he had stubble that was kept neat and short and the left side of his bottom lip was pierced with a simple black ring. As you got closer you saw she was also talking to that cat guy you sometimes saw smoking outside; you didn't really know much about him or when that they had started to hang out. He was slumped up against the wall toying with the pack of cigarettes in his hands. You don't think you have ever seen that guy stand up straight without leaning lazily against something, and honestly you were kind of impressed with his dedication.

You turned to look for the source of the greeting, scanning the long nearly empty hallways. Your eyes quickly connected with Chandler’s and she waved you over.  
She smiled when she was sure she had your attention and you returned it, heading over to her. Chandler worked at that record store that was across from your studio. It was trendy but not insanely popular. Chandler herself gave off this breezy, bohemian vibe in everything she did. It is hard for you to recall anytime she had ever gotten overly mad or impatient and that amazed you. She was a bit taller than you and was effortlessly curvy with all the right proportions. She had short chestnut brown hair, the fringe framing her round, freckled face. Her hazel eyes, filled with warmth, moved from you to the others in her group.

There was Nathan, who besides Chandler was one of the only people that worked at the mall with you that you knew well enough to share a table at the food court with. Nathan’s blonde hair poked out from under his beanie in a way that was most likely purposefully messy, and his ice blue eyes were hidden behind his thick rectangular framed glasses. He was lanky and angular, had a bit of stubble and a pierced lip. Nathan worked at the game store and kept you in supply of weird or interesting handheld games. He was quiet, but smart and friendly.

As you got close you noticed a third member of the group, a cat monster you sometimes saw smoking outside. You really didn’t know him, but you’ve seen him around, he had orange fur and had a face that screamed he would rather be anywhere than work. He was slumped up against the wall toying with a pack of cigarettes in his hands. You can’t recall a single time you’ve seen him stand up straight with out leaning lazily against something or slouching and honestly you were a bit impressed with his dedication.

“Hey dude,” Chandler greeted you, Nathan nodded, and the monster waved half-heartedly. “You making it to game night?” she asked “We’ll be at Nathan’s.”  
Nathan nodded again, though he remained silent as usual. He listened carefully, and always paid attention, though he rarely spoke up.  
Your face scrunched up into a grimace, “No sorry, can’t make it.” You answered immediately. You felt a little bad for turning them down, but at the same time the shrug you gave in response felt all too natural. You didn’t really make a habit out of hanging out with them much outside of work, but even you had to admit it’s been a while. “Babysitting, you know.” You offered up weakly as an excuse.  
Chandler chuckled but nodded. “How is she… Morrigan right?” 

“Too adorable for her own good.” You answered back, “Finally making friends.” You offered, trying to keep from talking too much about it, since you first started to bug Gabriel into moving closer you feel like him and Morrigan are all you talk about.

Chandler and Nathan made matching expressions of acceptance, however, that cat monster’s fur puffed out, standing on end like a normal cat did when they were scared or upset.

“Kids weird me out.” He said aloud, though as if he was talking mostly to himself. “Take it from me buddy, one moment they’re begging their dead-inside parents for one of the meals with the toys in them, the next their throwing a fit, crying so hard you have to mop up after them.” He shuddered after speaking as if reliving the events he described.

“Yeah, now imagine you have to get them to sit still and smile for a family portrait. Best part of my day.” You said sarcastically rolling your eyes.

“See, you get it buddy!” The cat monster flashed you an approving smile. The genuine grin looked somewhat unnatural on his face, like it was unused to contorting that way.

“It’s different when you know the kid though, especially if they’re family.” You added.

“Yeah B.P. what about the kid that keeps pushing you to do community theater?” Chandler added gleefully.

“Eh, yeah sure a few are ok.” B.P., you assumed that was his name, shrugged.

You unintentionally sneered, “Watch out for actors, there is always that one diva bitch.” The words came out of you before you even knew what you were saying.  
Nathan broke his silence by descending into a fit of giggles. 

You did your best to hide your blush behind your coffee cup, gulping up the remainder of the drink, and trying to put on an amused smile.

“You have no idea.” B.P. told you with sincerity.

You spent the majority of your morning just hanging out in the studio keeping things tidy and talking to curious mall goers, overall it was a fairly slow morning. You loved photography and the fact that mornings were usually dead, but you really wished you could be doing more with your passion than posed family portraits. You sighed and stared at the clock waiting for lunch.

When you were finally able to, after a period of time that felt like forever, you stepped out of the studio for lunch. You wandered off and stood in the middle of the food court trying to decide what to eat. You were lost in thought when you were ambushed from behind and pulled into a tight hug. You would never admit to the squeak you made in surprise. Pulling away, you spun around to be greeted with your brother's smiling face. He gave you a small smirk at your surprised reaction.  
"Gabriel! You're going to be the fucking death of me." you sighed and clutched your chest.

He crossed his arms, the tattoos on them showing from where he had rolled up his sleeves. "Yeah well maybe if you were more used to hugs you wouldn't have a panic attack every time I stop by." Gabriel rolled his eyes, smirk betraying the annoyed tone he used.  
"If you didn't insist on sneaking up on me it would be fine." you crossed your arms mimicking his action, trying to look affronted.  
He laughed, waving off your comment "Burgers?" he asked instead.

"Yes please, I am starving!" you agreed whole heartedly, having not eaten all day.

You ate with your brother, both of you scarfing down your food like ravenous wolves which left you with more time in your break than you thought. Gabe wandered with you through the mall eventually ending up in the outdoor plaza area in the center of the mall before you remembered the text he sent you earlier.

"So, what's this big mysterious question?" you asked when your conversation lulled.

"You're off on Saturday, right?" it was a question, but he said it like a statement. He was just leading you along his train of thought until he got to the point he wanted to make.

"Yeah?" you asked, drawing out the word to urge him to continue.

"Well how about dinner?" there was a mischievous glint in his eyes that was slightly worrying, but you chose to ignore it.  
"Sure thing, when?" You answered easily.

"Five, I'll text you the address." He offered casually leading you down a winding trail around the plaza.

You glared at him suspiciously "Did you spontaneously change address or do you really think my direction skills are that poor?" you intoned.

"Well, it’s not at my place.” He shrugged. “And, you don't know where Toriel lives." His voice was casual, but the look on his face was one someone would use when dealing with a particularly dense person who wasn't following simple logic.

"Toriel?” You paused a moment in thought trying to remember why you recognized that name. “You mean that uh kid…” You struggled trying to think of the name. “Frisk's mom?" you questioned trying to slowly piece together what he was telling you.

"Yep." he popped the 'p' sound and nodded encouragingly as you worked through what he meant.

You glared, knowing he was being deliberately vague to fuck with you "Why am I supposed to have dinner with Toriel?"

"Because," he sighed in an exaggerated manner as if he was extremely disappointed in your deductive skills. "it's going to be a kind of 'getting to know your kid's new friend's family' type thing and she invited you. Oh, look ice cream!"

Gabriel distracted you from trying to process the information, or maybe he was legitimately excited by the small food vendor cart with the bright yellow and red striped umbrella that he pointed at. There was really no underestimating his sweet tooth.

"Isn't it getting a bit too cold for ice cream?" you complained even as he dragged you by your wrist toward the cart manned by a pastel blue bunny man in a shirt that matched the cart’s umbrella.

He was leaned up against it amenably chatting with that cat monster you spoke to earlier. You don’t think you caught his name, but you recognized him propped up against the wall nearby with the cigarette in between his lips. The fact that he was smoking and wearing an overly tacky fast food uniform you figured he was probably on his own lunch break.

"C'mon, live a little, will you?" Gabriel chided you teasingly.

You shrugged now close enough to read 'Nice Cream' on the side of the trolley, "Yeah, sure fine."

"Oh, by the way I said you would make dessert." he added quickly before getting the bunny's attention.

You groaned and slapped his arm, you had no clue what he had gotten you into now. “Ugh, go to hell Gabe.”

“I’m trying my best, sister dearest.” He quipped back quickly with a smirk and wink before returning his full attention back to his ice cream order, you didn’t order one of your own.

Soon Gabe left on his way to pick Morrigan up from school and you went back to work, but for the rest of the day your mind kept drifting back to the conversation.

On your way home that day you easily thought of ways you could get out of going to this dinner. Ideas ranging from reasonable and realistic to dramatically unbelievable stories you could weave, but ultimately you didn't even know if you wanted to avoid going. You liked Toriel, from what you remembered of meeting her, and she had asked you to come so you guessed she didn't mind you either. Frisk was also a good kid and your niece really seemed to like to her. You didn't want to ruin the first friendship she developed since moving here, so how much could one dinner party really hurt? You would have Gabriel there with you and he always made it easier to deal with people, just like when you were kids. These thoughts kept looping in your mind for the whole walk back to your apartment and by the time you got there you were surprised to find you were actually excited by the idea. 

Sticking your hand into your jacket pocket for your keys your nose scrunched up in confusion as you were met with something you didn’t remember putting there. You pulled it out of your pocket to examine it only to be filled with more confusion. It was a wrapper, was this the wrapper from Gabriel’s ice cream thing? Did he just shove his trash in your pocket while you weren’t paying attention? You sighed and shook your head ready to throw it away when you saw writing on the inside of the wrapper. Uncrinkling the weird not quite paper, not quite plastic material you read the message ‘You have a really nice smile, you should use it more!’. You could feel yourself starting to smile just from reading it. You rolled your eyes half-heartedly at the thought of Gabriel sneaking the wrapper into your jacket and held it in your hand as you went fishing in your pocket again, this time actually managing to grab your keys.


	4. Baking Messes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey it's Monday again!  
> So guys I'm really really excited about the next few chapters!  
> I really hope you guys are enjoying this story still and that it's better than the original version.  
> Leave me some feedback, always love to hear from you guys!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one is even going to see this but I'm beyond freaking out right now I just lost days of work because my laptop died and didn't auto save. Chapter 5 will still be posted Monday but chapters that were 80% new content have just disappeared and there is nothing I can do. I'm crying, I'm raging and I'm at a loss I'll try to recreate chapter 6 but right now I'm just... lost.

Waking up late on a Saturday was probably one of the most beautiful feelings you could think of. The sheer number of weekdays you had to lay in bed trying to gather the motivation needed to get dressed and go to work was getting kind of sad, so the few extra hours of sleep you got on your days off was a luxury you never skipped out on. It was sometime in the early afternoon and the sun had started to warm the room. The mild heat seeped through the window, rousing you from slumber. Golden light flooded into the dark room in columns, specks of dust floated and danced suspended in the beams. Not quite fully awake and exceedingly comfortable you wanted to roll over and sleep just a little longer, though the tiny little paw that landed on your face seemed to disagree. Hemlock mewed and stood on you, now with both front paws on your face and his hind legs on your collarbone. You groaned tiredly at him and he mewled back in pseudo conversation. You guessed it was feeding time and your stomach rumbled in sympathy at the thought of food. You found yourself hungry enough to drag yourself out of bed regardless of the tempting warmth of your blankets, so still in your fluffy pajama pants and an over-sized t-shirt you stumbled out of your room. 

As soon as your door opened, Hemlock took off like a bullet to where you assumed your roommate had filled his food bowl. With your hair a mess and mismatched socks lazily pulled on you found your way to the living room which had been restored to its normal halfway presentable state. Your yawn stretched out for so long that your ribs hurt as you rubbed sleep out of your eyes. You looked around and saw Vincent already awake and wrapped up like a burrito in his blanket with an overfull plate of microwaved pizza rolls. The sofa was plush, and a homey olive-green color complemented by his bright purple blanket that he was snuggled into so deeply that you would have to use a crowbar to pry him out it.

"Mornin'" You grumbled, mouth dry from sleep, not ready for full sentences yet. Slinking past him on your way to the kitchen.

"Good morning!" He sung, his eyes briefly leaving the tv screen flicking up at you before shoving more food in his face.  
"If you say so." You replied lazily, bones cracking pleasantly as you paused to stretch before continuing on your way.

Shuffling out of the room, you went into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet, letting it clatter on the counter. You abandoned it to shuffle over to the pantry to get your cereal. You chuckled slightly as poured your bowl nearly full to the brim of Captain Crunch, amused at the knowledge that your grocery list and eating habits haven't really changed much since college. Crossing the kitchen, you opened the refrigerator, the dim light bulb inside clicking on and bathing you in florescent light as you heard your friend moving around from behind you.

"Why is the fridge full of girl scout cookies and rum?" You asked the room flatly, the fact that this kind of behavior is losing its ability to shock you probably meant something, but you decided not to open that can of worms today.

"I went shopping." he shrugged as if it was obvious as he stood in the doorway, having abandoned his blanket and carrying his now empty plate.

"I'm not even mad, when I get home from dinner wanna crack one of these open?" You asked grabbing the milk, having to Jenga it out of the fridge around the new items.

"Oh, hell yes! Pick up soda for rum and cokes on the way back?"

You nodded as you poured the milk into your cereal and Vincent put his plate in the sink with a careless clatter, quickly returning back to his nest of blankets on the couch. 

When you remembered the dinner that you had at Toriel's tonight, you suddenly remembered Gabriel had of course signed you up to bring cookies. You rolled your eyes at the memory. Oh well, you figured it gave you a chance to bake which you hardly ever did.  
"You want to help me make cookies?" you asked immediately hearing the excited consent from the other room.

His easy enthusiasm made you smile as you brought your late breakfast into the living room, shooing him to his own side of the sofa as you ate and pulled out your 3DS, flicking on a puzzle game you’d gotten ridiculously obsessed with. One section had been really breaking your brain and you really wanted to get past it. You managed some progress over the hour or so, but you had once again become hopelessly stuck. You growled at the game in irritation. You loved puzzles, but maze sections were the worst.

Switching off the game soon after your lazy breakfast, you decided you needed to get started baking so you could get ready to go to this dinner thing since it was already getting a bit late. Eager to be of some help in the kitchen, especially with the promise of cookies, Vincent agreed to do your prep work. He was about five feet of pure, concentrated energy flitting around the kitchen setting it up for you while you looked through your stuff for your mom’s chocolate chip cookie recipe.

“Found it!” You smiled, holding it aloft like a Zelda treasure chest item.

“FUCK! I remember those. Why don’t you ever make those?!” Vincent asked incredulously, snatching the paper from your hands, scanning the list of ingredients.

“First of all, you have to stop snatching shit out of my hands you brat. Secondly, I’m not my mom I’m not here to bake your cookies and pinch your cheeks.” You rolled your eyes taking the paper back from him.  
“Ugh, then what good are you?” he teased back playfully.

“Well, with me around you can get drunk and cuss and I don’t nag you about bedtimes.” You answered back automatically as you preheated the oven. You looked over to him “You going to actually help or…?” you asked.  
He nodded eagerly.

Once you started baking you realized Vincent wanted to help by trying to incorporate Mettaton style cooking flourishes to your dish and it became a harder task to keep him focused instead of dancing around posing for a nonexistent camera. You had to snatch the glitter out of his hand as he tried to sneak it into your dough.

“But it’ll make it all pretty!” He whined.

“This is craft glitter! It’s not even edible glitter you heathen!” You argued back putting the bottle on top of the fridge and out of reach of his short arms. He huffed but got over it quickly when you let him eat some of the uncooked dough. 

You didn't bake often, or cook really for that matter, but when you did you liked to do so from scratch and every time you left the counters gritty, dusted in a fine mixture of flour and sugar. Vincent didn’t help matters either, when he helped he turned things from messy to a disaster. This time was no different. He now sat on the one countertop by the sink you didn't bother to use, holding a cookie in between his hands looking extremely proud of himself as if surveying the damage that he caused. Still, the cookies turned out great, and he managed to arrange them on a platter without eating them all, so you’d take the nightmare mess in stride. His legs dangled over the edge, nowhere near reaching the floor, making him look even shorter and younger than normal.

Now that you were done you checked your phone. The time had snuck up on you. It was close to the time to go, and the reality of the situation was starting to dawn on you. You have never really gone to a dinner party before, and you were starting to feel like a high schooler meeting a boyfriend's family for the first time. It wasn't like you had experienced that a lot as a teenager, but you still remember the nervous mess you became when trying to impress someone. Frowning down at your dirtied pajamas, your nose scrunched up and you groaned starting to feel tendrils of panic rising.

"What do you even wear to a dinner like this?" You asked more to yourself than Vincent tugging at the hem of your shirt.  
"Yes, ask the guy who has a panic attack when he has to order in a restaurant about what to do in social situations." He rolled his eyes at you wiping crumbs off his jeans.

"Well aren't you helpful?" You sighed.

"Just throw something somewhat decent together I guess. I don't know." He shrugged.

"And here I was planning on lingerie and a t shirt proclaiming my satanic intentions." You sarcastically intoned.

"Hot. Which I guess works out for you since it's so chilly out!" He couldn't keep the silly little smile he got when he told a bad joke off his face.  
"Nope, nope if you're going to start with that I'm out. Imma go get dressed." You waved your arms at him in an overly exaggerated manner fleeing the room turning back and pointed an accusing finger at him. "And don't eat all the cookies while I'm gone."  
"Oh come on, that would be a real CRUMBY thing to do!" He had started to giggle at his own bad pun.  
"Bad! Bad Vincent. No!" You scolded as you left, retreating to your room.

You could hear Vincent laughing to himself and shuffling around the kitchen all the way back into your bedroom. Once you were there you put your phone down and flung open your closet door to find it mostly full of jeans and work shirts like you expected. You didn't think it was formal enough occasion to wear any of the clothes you wear to work and your t shirts seemed too casual. You sighed and glared at the clothes as if it were their fault you were under prepared for this situation. Pushing through your clothes in search of something you wouldn't feel too awkward wearing you knew you had to have something stored away that would useful.

Lost in deep thought you jumped away from your closet nearly falling on your ass when a loud sound blared suddenly. Quickly you recognized the noise breaking the quiet as the Tardis landing sound from Doctor Who. For a moment you were very confused until you noticed the noise that was playing out of your phone from the nightstand was your brother's ringtone. Taking a moment to be slightly disappointed that David Tennant wasn't here to take you away you answered your phone, propping it up in between your shoulder and ear as you went back to searching through your clothes.

"So are you still planning on coming or are you going to hide and try to will this away because I will pick your lock." Gabriel asked when you picked up your phone, not even bothering to say hello.

You rolled your eyes, you could hear his smirk over the phone. "You have a key you know."

"Yeah, but that is not nearly as fun." He sing-songed.

"So how is Morrigan handling the situation?" You asked, quick to change the subject and hoping that he didn't actually latch on to the idea of trying to pick your lock, you really didn’t want to have that conversation with your landlord.

"She has been throwing nearly her entire wardrobe around her room trying to pick out an outfit. And of course, she doesn't want my help. I didn't even realize she owned so many dresses." Gabriel chuckled, clearly amused by his daughter's antics.

"Yeah, who would have thought that you of all people would raise a messy kid." your toned dripped with sarcasm thinking back on how you two must have made your mom's life a nightmare when you were little.

"Hey, she's better than me when it comes to cleaning her room, it's starting to make me look bad." He admitted.

"You don't need anyone's help to make you look bad." You retorted as you dug deeper in your closet unearthing the very few dresses you owned stuffed in the back you scanned them, picking out a sweater dress that went down to just above your knees, it was warm, soft, and medium grey color. "Aha!" you called out triumphantly as you pulled it off the hanger.

"What are you 'aha'ing at? Finally beat that puzzle game you've been sucking at?" Gabriel asked teasingly.

You groaned suddenly remembering that hard maze puzzle you were stuck on in your game. "You dick, now that's going to bug me all night!"

You could hear him laughing loudly over the phone as you shut your closet, causing you to glare harder as if he was there to see how annoyed you were at him. When Gabriel calmed down you shared a quick conversation about when he would pick you up and you hung up so you could get ready.


	5. Meeting Many Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok so as promised Monday's chapter!  
> I'm currently working on re-writing what I've lost but it is a process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really want A/N chapters taking up space so I deleted it but I'm re-pasting the short note here: Ok so don't worry chapter five is going to posted on Monday, but my computer and lost the files for six and seven and it's really devastating because they were like 80% new content that I was really proud of. I'm not going to lie, I cried. I'm going to attempt to rewrite them I'm not stopping the story I'm just frustrate. So I thought it would be fun if I posted my tumblr link here and let you guys hit me up. You can send feedback, ask about the characters and story, talk to me about ideas, or just send so love. I would really appreciate the distraction.  
> themalicealyce.tumblr.com

The sun hung low in the sky as you pulled up to Toriel's house in the passenger seat of your brother's car. He had drove just outside the bustle of the city and parked in front of what looked like a cozy little suburban cottage with a couple cars already parked around it. 

"Nice place." Gabriel commented with an appreciative whistle as he helped Morrigan out of the car.

"Seriously." You agreed but you couldn't feel jealous. You loved your apartment and living in the middle of the busy city. 

Your niece, so cute in her red dress, grabbed Gabe's hand trying her best to drag him along the walkway up to the door, excitement glowing in her large eyes while you were sure your own betrayed your fraying nerves instead. Gabriel laughed lazily and indulgently walked with her to the front of the house, leaving you to follow a few steps behind.

"Can I ring the bell?" Morrigan asked with thinly veiled enthusiasm giving Gabriel big, pleading puppy dog eyes as she played with the hem of her dress in nervous excitement.

"Sure thing honey." He smiled sweetly and easily picked her up, lifting her so she could reach the door bell.

Morrigan giggled happily and reached out to press the button, causing noise to erupt from inside the house.

You could hear heavy footsteps running through the house and a couple of loud, yet muffled voices. Gabriel barely had enough time to pull Morrigan back, protectively drawing her flush against his chest, before the door swung open and a towering skeletal creature leaned halfway out of the doorway. He was shorter than Toriel from what you could tell, but still much taller than you or your brother. The creature, a skeleton, stood easily over six foot tall. You had jumped back, shocked at the sudden sight of the intimidating looking skull watching the three of you with rapt interest before trying to calm your rapidly beating heart. The more you thought about it, the monster didn't look threatening really, just eager and you scolded yourself internally for being scared. He was wearing a baggy, hand-knit looking sweater with the words 'COOL DUDE' made up of tiny bones written across it, dress pants, and a pair of ridiculous red boots he didn't really scream grim reaper. It was hard not to react though, he just jump-scared the fuck out of you. 

You checked on your niece out of the corner of your eye, but she had quickly gone from covering her face with her small hands and squeaking in surprise from the sudden screaming, to peeking out between her fingers and watching the skeleton cautiously. Gabriel also looked a bit apprehensive, but that was mostly more for his daughter's sake than his own. 

"GREETINGS HUMANS AND TINY HUMAN! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" the skeleton boomed exuberantly, striking a heroic and proud pose. At his full height and volume, he could easily scare a child, but nothing in his tone or body language actually seemed threatening. Looking past him, you noticed Frisk a few steps behind him with a hand covering her mouth looking like she was giggling.

Toriel had quickly appeared at the door next to the skeleton with a small apologetic smile. "Oh dear, I see you've all met Papyrus." she sighed slightly before smiling more genuinely. “I hope he didn’t startle you.” She spoke calmly, smilingly softly at Morrigan in particular.  
Morrigan shook her head “Nuh uh! I’m not scared!” 

Frisk, at Toriel’s side, nodded as if agreeing that no one could find him scary.

"WHY OF COURSE, THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS MAKES THE BEST FIRST IMPRESSION! I MAY BE VERY INTIMADATING WHEN I WISH, BUT I AM A GENTLEMAN ABOVE ALL ELSE!" He shifted to a different pose, this one less heroic and more dapper. At least you think that was his intent, but it was either his lanky skeletal form or what might have been doubt in his facial expression that lead him to not quite pulling it off.  
Your niece seemed to get over the monster's loud voice very quickly, instead giggling at his antics. She extended her hand from where she was still hoisted up by her father. "Hiya Mister I'm Morrigan!"

Papyrus looked very relived by her response and took her hand in his much larger one and shook it with a renewed enthusiastic vigor. "Nice to meet you Tiny Human!" his voice still boisterous but he was no longer yelling.

The dark look drained away from your brother's face as he heard Morrigan speaking confidently and happily, once again completely at ease nodding in greeting to Papyrus and Toriel.

You couldn't help but smile at his energy. It reminded you a lot of Vincent. You used to think it would completely drain you coming from anyone else, but you guessed you were making new exceptions tonight. "Hey Toriel." you returned her smile before turning to the skeleton. "I- uh I would shake your hand too but uh..." you let the sentence trail off awkwardly as you shifted with your hands full. Instead, you raised the large cookie platter showing that you were otherwise occupied.

"OH! I see! Well no worries human! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, shall take that delicious burden for you!" he posed again before taking the tray from your hands and sprinted back in to the house disappearing before you could argue the issue.  
“Well, uh… ok. Thanks?” You offered, but he was already gone.

Toriel chuckled in a soft, motherly way as she watched the skeleton run past her. She stepped aside allowing the three of you room to enter her house. "Please, do come in."

Gabriel put Morrigan down and she was running as soon as she hit the ground. She speedily made her way into the house and to Frisk, showing off her dress, already rambling on amenably to the nodding mute who dragged her away, a mischievous light in her eyes as she followed after the cookies with your niece in tow.

You stepped just inside the living room after your brother, and closed the door behind your group. You smiled fondly, finding Toriel and Gabe observing the children interact with matching tender expressions. Already calmed from your previous worrying, the cozy family feeling washed over you. You could feel a stupidly happy smile tugging at the corners of your mouth and again for the second time in the past few days you were excited to make new friends. You shoved the thought down and your hands into your pockets now that they were unused and feeling awkward.

Toriel guided you and your brother further inside a moment after they let Frisk lead Morrigan out of the room as she looked intent on showing her around the house. Gabriel and Toriel let them be as they entered the dining room with you following behind, causing you to feel a bit like a lost puppy.

The kitchen door opened, allowing a snippet of a loud conversation to spill out as a chubby, yellow monster backed out with a nervous stammer. She was shorter than either Toriel or Papyrus, by a lot. She was actually short, a bit taller than your roommate and looked kind of like a dinosaur with shimmering pale scales and ridges down her spine. You'd never seen a timid, dress-wearing dinosaur before. 

She spun around only to jump with a scared squeak, nearly knocking the glasses off her face. "I-i'm s-sorry... I d-didn't know y-you would be here s-so soon..." her apology trailed off as she wrung her hands together, her eyes trained on the floor.

"Alphys this is the young lady I was telling you about, and her brother Gabriel." Toriel spoke calmly, ignoring the monster's stuttering outburst.  
"Hey." Gabriel gave his normal lazy mock salute in casual greeting causing Alphys to look up slightly with an attempted smile.

"Hi." you tried to give a placating smile, but it probably came across just as nervous as hers. “Sorry for, uh, startling you?" You jabbed Gabriel in the ribs when he snorted at you. Mocking your awkward attempt at socialization. 

“O-oh! Oh no!” She waved her clawed hands frantically. “It’s not y-your fault! I-I’m sorry.” She stuttered and muttered. She buried her blushing face in her hands still muttering quietly to herself.

Toriel frowned, about to take a step forward to comfort the short, self-deprecating monster. You didn’t see her however because you had already moved closer. Your steps were a bit slow and cautious, not wanting to really set her off any further and a little unsure in your own ability to calm her. You’ve dealt with Vincent’s panic attacks, you could handle this, right?

“Hey, your name is Alphys right? That’s a pretty cool name.” You offered, now standing closer, yet not close enough to crowd her.

She blushed harder into her hands, “R-really? It’s k-kind of nerdy.” She spoke into her hands still, but she said it a loud and clear enough for you to make out.

“Na, it’s much cooler than my name.” You smiled, telling her your own name in a dismissive manner.

“Oh no! D-don’t say that, your name is perfectly fine.” She said taking her head out of her hands and looking up at your face again. She gasped quickly after saying it and launch into a ramble, “I didn’t m-mean that! N-not that your name i-isn’t fine i-t’s just that i-t’s m-more than fine! I-It’s a great name. I’m s-so sorry I d-didn’t mean t-to m-make fun of i-it or anyth-”

You cut her off, she didn’t look like she took a single breath through the entire thing. “No, it’s fine I knew what you meant.” You shrugged.  
“O-oh, good.” She nodded though she still looked flustered and unconvinced. 

Toriel had guided your brother to the table and they took up chairs to continue their chat after seeing that you two were in good hands. They were sharing parenting stories from the sounds of it. You noticed the big open arch that connected the room to the living room and you immediately found yourself drawn to the large bookshelf by the fireplace as soon as you saw it.

Seeing as Toriel seemed occupied you left her to her own devices and walked over to the bookcase as you continued to talk to Alyphs. “This bookshelf is really packed huh?” Your eyes sparkled as you approached it, you loved to read and if you could afford the space in your apartment for a bookcase this ornate you would’ve got on in a minute, rather you owned a library card and only bought books you loved too much to give up.

“You like to read?” The lizard-like monster asked, following timidly behind you.

“Oh yeah.” You agreed easily, nodding as your eyes roamed over the titles of the worn, well-read books.

“What kind of books do you like?” She asked curiously.

You shrugged again, wondered how many facts one really even wanted to know about snails, because really that was a lot of books about snails. “Anything really: sci-fi, fantasy, the occasional non-fiction book when it catches my interest. Anything and everything. I used to be really into manga but I kinda fell out of the scene and I don’t even know what’s good anymore.” You shrugged.

Alphys’s eyes lit up and she looked like she was going to speak up when you heard yelling over the already ruckus clanking coming from the kitchen.

"WOWIE UNDYNE! I DIDN'T KNOW WATER COULD EVEN CATCH FIRE LIKE THAT!" Came Papyrus’s voice from the noisy room.

"I uh... Well... I MEAN OF COURSE PUNK! But... Maybe we should cover that pot?" The equally exuberant voice of, who you could only guess, was Undyne, responded with unshakeable confidence that wilted slightly with concern near the end.

"Yeah, you should really put a lid on it." you mumble to yourself before even thinking about it. Groaning when you heard what you said and silently cursing Vincent’s bad puns for rubbing off on you.

Alphys glanced nervously at the door before looking over to Toriel "Y-you did c-cook before they t-took over the kitchen r-right?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Toriel nodded knowingly, small smirk playing on her snout. Alphys let out a relieved breath, but quickly looked worried again. "D-don't tell her I asked t-that p-please?"

You shot your brother a concerned look. Dinner was starting to sound like a scary experience between the fire and lack of confidence in those in the kitchen. He merely shrugged, seemingly unaffected by the possibility. Toriel was, thankfully, unaware of your silent conversation as she was once again placating a panicky Alphys with a few kind words and a soft smile. The kitchen door burst open as if it was kicked with great force. It flung open so hard you thought it nearly flew off of its hinges. You instinctively stumbled a few steps back, away from the violent action nearly feeling the need to take cover.

The door aggressor turned out to be a tall, smirking monster. Why were so many monsters so tall? Her teeth were sharp, though they were more like a mouthful of fangs. She had miraculous cyan scales, thinner and more pearlescent than Alphys’s matte, thick ones. She also had some sort of fins or gills for ears, poking out from her vibrant red hair which was pulled back in a tight pony tail. She was equal parts beautiful and terrifying as she strode into the room with Papyrus following adoringly at her heels.

From where you stood, which was fairly removed from the dining room due to your early retreat, you saw her lock eyes with your brother and her smirk morphed into a dangerous snarl.

"Hey nerd!" she growled, pointing rather dramatically across the room at your older brother.

"U-un-Undyne?" Alphys stuttered worriedly, taking several short steps towards the blue fish woman, holding her hands out as if trying to subdue her but not really knowing how.

"Oh, hey.” Gabriel nodded in recognition. “What are the odds of seeing you here? How'd those tats heal up?" Gabriel asked easily, apparently unconcerned by her Amazonian appearance and demeanor.

As quickly as she grew fierce, it melted into an enthusiastic smile. "Hell yeah nerd! They’re pretty awesome, check it out!" she slung off her light jacket, tossing it towards Alphys, revealing her black tank top underneath. She moved quickly to Gabriel’s chair, not quite sprinting across the room as it looked more like she closed the distance in a single leap, presenting an arm to him.

Toriel shot a quick warning glare at Undyne for her language, while Alphys scrambled with the coat, and Papyrus looked both confused and excited. You wandered back over to the group, curious. Papyrus apparently had the same idea, peeking at the scene from over your head. Stark black tattoos stood out clearly against Undyne's light blue flesh and wrapped around her upper arm, spanning from her shoulder to her elbow. They looked almost tribal, but they incorporated some symbols that seemed familiar that you couldn’t identify.

"Wow, you did this Gabe?" you gasped at your brother's work, it seemed to match Undyne perfectly, from what little you knew of her, both badass and startlingly beautiful.

"Yeah, she's a real trooper, hardly winced at all under the needle." he praised with a shrug, releasing her arm, seemingly pleased with how it healed and set.

"WHATEVER! YOU COULDN'T HURT ME IF YOU TRIED!" Undyne boasted loudly, her toothy smirk stretching across her face.

Before anything else could be said, Morrigan and Frisk entered the room, again hand in hand. Frisk dropped your niece's hand and tugged on Toriel's dress. When the goat mom looked up, Frisk signed and rubbed her stomach for emphasis.

"Oh yes, of course my child, dinner is just about ready. Do you want to help me set the table?"


	6. Please Do No Break The Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok so computer problems hopefully fixed! Back with chapter six.  
> I'm glad you guys are sticking with me through this!

Frisk helped Toriel set the large dining room table, filling it up with the amount of food you’d only ever seen served on a single table at Thanksgiving dinners on tv. Dinner consisted of the most delicious looking roast and a wide array of mouth-watering sides that had to be made by Toriel. There was also a towering mound of slightly over-cooked spaghetti that was clearly contributed by Papyrus and Undyne. You carefully loaded your plate with a little bit of everything, trying to ride the line between politely trying everything and not looking ravenous. Though, it all smelled so good it was hard not to shovel the food down like you were starved.

The table quickly became crowded as everyone sat around it. You of course sat next to your big brother, it was always easier for you to socialize with him beside you as a buffer. He wasn’t really being the greatest help at the moment though, as he was fighting an uphill battle to keep Morrigan from making a mess as she and Frisk couldn’t stop playing and talking even as they ate. Alphys sat on your other side with Undyne next to her. It soon became obvious to you that the two were an item as Undyne sat close to the shy yellow lizard with a protective arm slung around her shoulders. This seemed to both calm and fluster Alphys simultaneously, in an adorable way. Another thing that quickly became clear to you was that beyond just exuding motherly and regal traits, Toriel was kind of a dork. You meant that in the best kind of way, you really did. She was quick with a joke, even if they were usually silly puns. Toriel also gushed easily about her students, their quirks and achievements, but no kid more so than her own daughter, Frisk. Papyrus jovially joined in the conversation, but ignored the majority of the feast in front of him, instead piling his plate high with his own pasta creation.

It was really easy to sit silently and just get lost listening to the group talk. They seemed to have such a history and comradery that it thrummed pleasantly in the room. Ironically, you let it wash over you to the point that you weren’t really listening to the words, just the tone. That is probably why when you looked up from playing with your food, you were taken aback to see Papyrus was watching you. He wasn’t staring at you so you don’t think you missed a question directed at you, rather he was failing to sneak glances at you. Your eyebrows furrowed as you tried to figure out why. Glancing down, you found you had absent-mindedly twirled a bite of spaghetti onto your fork. You raised it questioningly, watching for his reaction.

Papyrus’s eyes, or eye sockets widened eagerly. You were greatly amused, and intensely curious about how he did that with a skull. His bone appeared rigid upon first sight, or at least a solid and inflexible material like bone; however, he moved with fluidity in his limbs and his skull was malleable, easily contorting into expressions. You had to pull yourself away from the thoughts. You were too prone to day dreaming about things you found curious and you feared you would zone out again if you allowed yourself. 

You turned your attention back down at your fork and gave it a dubious look. From the fire that had occurred in the kitchen to the others’ mistrust in his and Undyne’s cooking, to the point where almost no one else had put any of it on their own plates, you were concerned about your safety. Glancing back up at Papyrus, however, was enough to make you shrug and commit to your fate. His eyes were wide and hopeful, but something about the tension around his jaw seemed forced. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but it was like he knew it had turned out poorly in the past.

Either way, you ate the spaghetti. Your nose scrunched up for a moment because it was somewhere between over-cooked mush and that crunch that store-bought noodles get when they are under-cooked. It was a bit of an understatement to say it wasn’t the best you’ve ever eaten, but honestly it wasn’t the worst you’ve ever eaten either. Years of college, hotplates, and kids not knowing how to cook without their parents have kind of desensitized you to poorly cooked pasta and rice. It was edible, and the sauce was flavored so overwhelmingly it distracted you from the actual texture of the noodles. You shrugged and nodded, giving Papyrus a thumbs up, going back for another bite.

He squealed in delight and happily watched you finish off the spaghetti on your plate with no signs of disgust. You smiled back, glad to see his features lose their tense edge and instead beam with pride.

“So,” Undyne interrupted your thoughts, turning you back to the main conversation to find her brandishing her knife, pointing it at Gabriel. “you take care of that rugrat by yourself?” she pried.

Immediately your whole body stiffened. You felt like you were shutting down, everything becoming too much to handle. You looked down at your hands to find them griping your utensils so tightly your knuckles were turning white. You turned then to your brother, watching the pain flash darkly across his face as well. His usual playful expression dropped for just moment before it came back as a forced facsimile. You hated this conversation as well as the horrible pit in your stomach and the pain in your chest that accompanied it. It felt like your heart was being torn apart, but it was more central in your chest, pumping the feeling through your entire body.

You suddenly became very aware that all noise had been sucked out of the room. It was deathly silent and the tension in the room felt like a thick physical presence closing in around you. You could feel all of their eyes on you and Gabriel, their gazes making your skin crawl and itch. You knew the looks weren’t judgmental, they were in various states of concern and curiousity, but it didn’t change the weight they held. Morrigan had gone just as silent, her head tilted to the side and eyes heavily on her father. She hardly knew more than any given stranger at the table.

“Yeah, it’s just me and my little Morri.” Gabriel broke the spell that held everyone speechless, ruffling Morrigan’s hair while smiling, but you knew it was strained. “Of course, my baby sister is always around to help.” He added, turning to smile at you, though his eyes were pleading, begging you for your cooperation. He did not want to talk about it especially not here or now.

“How would you even function without me?” You agreed, forcing as much cheer into the statement as you could, even as you were still fuming with bitter anger and sorrow. That place in your chest now radiating with a stabbing agony that you forced down with practiced control, willing yourself not to break. You were fine; you didn’t care; you could take care of yourself. You chanted that in your head until you forced yourself to believe it again and the pain was nothing more than a familiar dull ache. 

The tension still stuck in the air, but everyone seemed to sense it was a touchy subject and avoided poking at the elephant in the room.  
Papyrus seemed the happiest to play along like everything was fine, immediately jumping back into conversation like there was never an awkward pause. “INDEED! It is always a pleasure to find a sibling almost as great as THE GREAT PAPYRUS! My lazybones brother will too be woefully lost without me.” He agreed with you sitting up straighter in his chair posturing proudly the best he could from his seated position.  
“Oh, you have a brother?” You asked, eager to quickly shift the conversation away from yourself. Though, honestly, you were also genuinely curious, or maybe just nosy. 

You wondered why he wasn’t here. You weren’t oblivious enough to think that everyone they have ever known would be crammed around the table for dinner, but still with how close this group seemed, it felt odd that someone as close as a sibling would be left out. You wondered if he was shy, or maybe distrustful of humans. You couldn’t bring yourself to blame him for either. You weren’t a social butterfly yourself, and even though you knew the city was pretty accepting you still feel ill every time you think of some of the things you’ve heard. You couldn’t even watch the news. Even with the bits you grabbed from channel surfing there always seemed to be a piece about stomach-churning hate or violence. It was senseless.

You were pretty sure you were getting too lost in your own circle of thoughts because you jumped when you heard Papyrus’s emphatic voice. “Oh yes! He is actually working right now!” Papyrus answered jovially before leaning in a bit as if to share some conspiratorial information. “Though he is probably slacking off.” Papyrus scolded his absent sibling in playful, brotherly way.

The tension in the air had nearly evaporated at the new conversation, and you were thankful. Papyrus also seemed pleased at the change in mood, using the opportunity to regale everyone with stories of his heroics. Toriel used the opportunity to disappear into the kitchen as Frisk and Morrigan hung happily to his every word. 

“-AND OF COURSE, THE DAY WAS MIRACULOUSLY SAVED BY MY EXPERT HUMAN HUNTING SKILLS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WAS AN INVAULABLE ASSET TO THE ROYAL GUARD, WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN WOEFULLY LOST WITHOUT MY HEORIC SACRIFICE!” Papyrus was out of his chair now, gesturing and playing to his audience. You were sure you saw Frisk roll her eyes even as she smiled and clapped for him, and Morrigan was totally sold, cheering excitedly.

Undyne scoffed loudly unable to hold back her corrections to his hyperbolic story. “You were never in the Royal Guard!” Undyne argued, slamming a hand onto the table causing it to shift under her force.

“THAT WAS THE SACRAFICE! I WAS IN TRAINING AND DUE TO MY EFFORTS, THERE WAS NO LONGER EVEN A ROYAL GUARD! I AGREE IT WAS A TRAGIC TURN OF EVENTS!” Papyrus agreed shifting her criticism to a non-issue easily.

Undyne huffed, slumping back into her seat, resigned to not argue the issue further.

“What happened to the Royal Guard?” Morrigan asked with a confused pout.

“Didn’t really need it much in an official sense after the barrier broke.” Undyne shrugged.

“Yeah that was, uh, the thing that let the monsters on to the surface, right? There was some kid or something that broke the… magic seal thing?” You half stated, half asked, racking your brain for all the information you could recall on the specifics of the event. You were a senior in college when it happened and your normal, almost nonexistent level of paying attention dropped to basically nothing when you had finals and graduation on the mind. You kind of just accepted the news on monsters with a sleep deprived coffee addled nod and moved on.

At your rambling Undyne leaned forward in her seat, once more filled with energy. Her mouth curling into a smirk showing off her long, sharp teeth as if you were prey in her sights. “Some kid, huh?” She asked in a tone that oozed predatory confidence. 

“I mean, I think that’s right.” You said, shrinking back from her gaze.

Undyne cracked at your answer, “Yeah it was, she’s now the Ambassador for monsters, and you’re having dinner in her house!” She got out between wheezing laughter.

In that moment you could immediately tell that your entire face flushed what must have been an embarrassing shade of red. You let your head fall forward defeatedly onto the table to cover your shame. 

“UNYDNE I DON’T BELIEVE HUMANS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THAT COLOR! WHAT DID YOU DO? YOU BROKE THE HUMAN!” Papyrus cried out hysterically. You refused to look up even as he made a series of confused and concerned noises as no one would answer him. Your brother had joined in with Undyne’s laughter, Toriel was still out of the room, and from what you could make out, Alphys was trying to quietly scold Undyne, but sounded just as flustered as you at the moment.

You were in the process of trying to let the moment die before you could will yourself to face them again, but you weren’t given the chance. You were scooped up into incredibly strong, sturdy arms and smushed against a chest. Given the fact that you face was now buried in a soft sweater thinly protecting you from rigid bone, you knew it was Papyrus. He had grown too worried to wait for an answer any longer and was now making whimpering noises above you and bouncing as he cradled you like someone would a baby. “MISS DREEMURR UNDYNE BROKE THE HUMAN!” He called out into the house between sobs.

You tried to mumble against Papyrus, but you couldn’t really form unmuffled words. He wasn’t suffocating you and despite holding you tightly he was surprisingly gentle. You were still burning up, now not only from your heated blush, but now also from being trapped in a sweater. You could hear their laughter grow louder at his actions and realization dawned on you. Gabriel. He’s enjoying this because he knew! He knew, and he didn’t tell you, he set you up for failure. You swore to take sweet revenge if you were ever freed from this hug. You subconsciously nuzzled further into Papyrus’s protective embrace as you contemplated your vengeance.  
Somewhat suddenly you were ripped from your cocoon and held out at arm’s length from Papyrus as he inspected your face with a careful, worried expression. Your feet dangled uselessly as he effortlessly held you up closer to his eye line. He seemed tearful, even though it shouldn’t have been possible for him to cry. Though really all that you knew about science told you it shouldn’t be possible for him to exist in the first place, so you stopped questioning it. 

“Please tell me you’re not broken, Human.” Papyrus requested in the gentlest voice you heard him use so far.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me, really.” You agreed, finding yourself giving him a small, if shaky reassuring smile.

“Promise?” He asked, unsure.

“I promise.” You nodded.

Toriel came back into the dining room with a tray in either hand, seemingly unaffected by the chaos around her. She gracefully placed them down on the table and walked around to where you and Papyrus were. “What’s the matter dear?” She asked Papyrus.

“THE HUMAN WENT RED AND LIMP!” He responded louder than he was with you turning you around in his arms and pushing you out to Toriel for inspection.  
Toriel gave you a simple once over and smiled at you with gentle eyes. “You can set her down, she will feel better after some butterscotch cinnamon pie.” Toriel concluded, easing Papyrus’s worry. 

He did so, resettling you in your chair, causing Undyne to snicker again. Immediately at the sound, Toriel whipped her head to the blue monster levelling her with a stern glare. “I think you should apologize Undyne.” Toriel’s voice never hardened but in combination with the death stare, it was chilling. Apparently, it was also effective, causing Undyne to gulp as Toriel hefted a large slice of sweet smelling pie onto a plate seating it in front of you.

“Yeah, fine, whatever.” Undyne grumbled defensively as you happily took a few bites of the delicious dessert. It tasted very sweet and rich, as though it should be very heavy and creamy. Strangely though it was light and almost dissolved in your mouth, coating it with the taste. 

As you ate, stress you had stored in your shoulders and neck was slipping away. Slowly, even the dull ache in your chest, and your worry from embarrassment softly faded.

“I’m sorry, ok?” Undyne spat out with her arms crossed. “I was just having fun.” 

You waved off her apology. “I was being dumb and sensitive, don’t worry about it.” You really did want everyone to stop worrying about. That kept the attention on you and made you look like you couldn't take care of yourself.

“LOOK PUNK I’M TRYING TO APOLOGISE!” Undyne growled, earning a raised eyebrow from Toriel.

“I accept your apology, but really I’m fine.” You smiled. “Trust me I’m used to it,” You glared at Gabriel to emphasize your point. He smirked in response. “and honestly I was being stupid I would probably laugh at me too.” You shrugged.

This seemed to soothe Undyne who nodded in agreement before ignoring you in favor of dessert.


	7. Hot Chocolate is Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This winter came in with a sniffle. I've been real sick and sleepy on top of other family and seasonal dramas, but everything is becoming vaguely normal again and I'm getting back in the swing of things.  
> Be sure to leave a a comment!  
> I love that I'm getting these chapters out, sorry they're more scattered than I would like, again just illness and life. I'm super excited to get these next few chapters out, I really hope you're all still enjoying this.

Toriel’s pie was delicious and probably way out of your league in terms of baking ability. It made you feel a bit silly about your simple tray of chocolate chip cookies. In comparison to everything she made you feel like you didn’t do enough, or do well enough. 

Even with your own concerns everyone was at least being polite, offering niceties. It was hard for you to believe their compliments after you tasted what Toriel could do, her pie was proper comfort food. Though you had your doubts the tray of cookies was not completely neglected in favor of the other deserts.

“Oh dear, what kind of host am I?” Toriel fretted. “Would anybody like hot chocolate, or perhaps some coffee?” She asked to a chorus of agreement from her friends and a ‘if it wouldn’t be any trouble’ from you and Gabriel. She nodded happily and turned to you. “Dear, you mind terribly helping out? I only have so many hands.” She asked you as she smiled pleasantly, and wiggled the fingers on her paw like hands.

“Ya, of course.” You agreed easily with a nod, standing from your chair and following her into the kitchen. You had to admit you were a bit surprised when the kitchen was so clean after a day of what must have been chaotic cooking. You rocked from heel to toe on your feet, not quite sure how to help as Toriel gathered things from around the kitchen while humming to herself switching on the coffee maker as she went.

“Sorry, I kinda feel like I ruined your nice dinner. I promise I don’t usually freak out like that.” You offered, forcing yourself to break the silence. 

Toriel gave a small breathy laugh and shook her head. “Oh no, no worries. You didn’t ruin anything.” She smiled pleasantly patting your head before turning back to the stove mixing milk, sugar, and cocoa powder in a sauce pan. Things became quiet again and it made you bite your lip searching for something to say. You wanted to compliment her baking again, but you felt like it would be weird to keep praising her that way. That lead you to think about your mom’s cookie recipe, the one you used to make tonight’s cookies. Toriel also kind of reminded you of your own mom, doting and understanding.

“Thanks, by the way, for dinner, helping me out earlier, you know… everything.” You mumbled leaning with you back against the counter watching her movements at the stovetop. “Maybe this is a weird thing to bring up, but I haven’t seen anyone make hot chocolate with anything but a microwave in a while. I can't help but remember how every year we would always make hot chocolate for Santa to drink with his cookies.” You paused thinking about holidays at home. “It seems kind of silly now, since the hot chocolate would be cold before he got to it.” You chuckled whimsically at the memory.

“That’s so sweet.” She agreed, though she sounded as though the thought was bittersweet to her. You didn’t know why, but you didn’t get the chance to worry about what you said for long because she kept talking. “Though I doubt you’ve seen anyone made hot chocolate this way.” Toriel winked, usual cheer back in her voice.  
She again didn’t give you much time to contemplate her words, flicking her wrist and almost simultaneously a small fire appeared underneath the saucepan on the stove. It was green at the base, fading up into yellow flames that licked at the bottom of the pan. Toriel was facing you instead of the stove, closely watching your face for a reaction. It was a bit like how she looked at the park when you learned she was Frisk’s mom, but more hopeful this time.

You hardly even noticed how intently she watched you because your eyes were wide, glued to the strange flame. You leaned in a bit closer, transfixed, you wanted to thoroughly examine the magical fire, awe in your eyes, and you couldn’t help your breathy gasp. “That’s so cool.” 

You looked up and saw Toriel, her face lit up in response to your starry-eyed stare, relieved at your positive reaction. She chuckled and spoke to you in a wonder filled tone, “You are a strange one my ch-…“ She suddenly tripped over her words as if to stop herself. A few moments of silence ticked by as she returned to stirring the sweet mixture and you turned your gaze back to the green and yellow fire. “Would you grab the mugs for me dear, this is just about ready.”

You nodded, tearing your eyes away from the impressive display of magic. “How does that work?” You asked, unable to think about much else. You knew that monsters had magic, in passing, but the difference between vaguely knowing about the possibility in theory was worlds apart from real life demonstration. You lined the mugs up on the counter near her, moving out of her way so she could pour.

Toriel’s eyes sparkled at your curious question, she seemed to easily fall into what must have been her teacher mode. Her voice took on a slightly new facet, it was enthusiastic with a rhythmic cadence, one that was easy for kids to follow along with but overall pleasing to listen to and kept your attention. “Well monsters are mostly made up of magic, the way you humans are mostly made up of physical matter. Using our magic is just a matter of transferring the energy outside of ourselves. Monsters can have a wide variety of different abilities, while there are common traits some have unique skills. Some are inherently stronger than others, but because our magic is tied to our beings, intent goes a long way to how it manifests.” She was clearly choosing her words carefully to describe the concept to you in an informative, yet not overly confusing way.

You nodded in wonderment as you absorbed her words, all you could do was repeat your earlier gasp. “That’s so cool.”

Toriel let out a lilting laugh at your words as she poured the hot chocolate into the mugs. “I suppose so. Would you mind terribly getting the coffee, dear?”

You snapped out of your entrancement and quickly scooted over to the coffee pot. “Yeah, got it.” You answered pouring the coffee into more cups while she dressed her set of cups with marshmallows and whipped cream. “Thanks for the lesson Missus Dreemurr.” You said playfully gathering up your half of the cups.

She smiled kindly, winking as she got her half of the cups. “Any time.”

You two left the kitchen returning to everyone else with the mugs, met with cheers from the others upon reentering dining room. The two of you set them on the table and it wasn’t long before everyone switched back to their earlier conversations, pulling Toriel in with them leaving you able to just sit and listen again. 

You reached over to the tray of cookies you brought to grab one to try, since you didn’t have a chance to taste test them earlier. It was clear that they were being eaten, but the bottom layer was still mostly intact. When you grabbed one, you noticed something peeking out from underneath the pile. You glanced around, in a way that was far less stealthy than you intended, to make sure nobody was watching you. When you confirmed that everybody was too busy having a life to be interested in you being weird you snagged it, pulling it to you so it was just hidden beneath the table. You looked at what you had found; it was a small baggie of glitter with the note "lightly sprinkle" written across it in sharpie. You rolled your eyes at the antics of your stubborn roommate before shoving the sandwich bag into your pocket to be quickly forgotten about as the visit seemed to draw to a close. 

By the time the end of the night rolled around, you were almost caught off guard, having spent much of the time bathing yourself in the warmth and friendship which surrounded you. Though it came as no surprise that Morrigan had conked out for the night laying against her father's shoulder who was talking with Toriel, trying to set up a play date. You had somehow ended up getting dragged out of your shell a bit and into a conversation with Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys as they discussed hanging out again some time. 

“Y-you could c-come over somet-time… we c-could watch anime or s-something and order a p-pizza maybe.” Alphys suggested meekly.

“YEAH! Or we could go to Grillby’s! He got his place reopened above-ground recently.” Undyne interjected. 

“EVERYTHING THERE IS SO GREASY.” Papyrus scoffed at the suggestion.

You chuckled at his response. “You know, my roommate is really into anime. I have a hard time getting into most of it, but he would totally dig you guys. We could all just have a night in sometime. He would love having someone to watch all that stuff with and I’m sure I’d have fun.”

Alphys looked up at you, straightening her glasses in a poor attempt at hiding her excited expression at the prospect of having an anime binge session. “Oh my stars! Well I definitely think we can find the right series for you. Have you ever heard of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie? I think you’ll really love it, it has such strong themes of friendship and it's so sweet and cute! It is my all time favorite series, Mew Mew is such a sweetheart cat girl, she has the ability to control people by kissing them and that really leads to some interesting plots. BUT OH! I can’t spoil any of that! Just know the sequel ruined everything, so forget about that, I wouldn’t make anyone sit though that! I mean wh-” 

“Hon, deep breaths.” Undyne interrupted her with an amused chuckled and kissed her on the cheek.

Wow, you didn’t know Alphys had that in her. It was the first time you heard her speak so confidently and without stuttering at all. 

“S-sorry.” Alphys muttered, her cheeks growing a darker yellow shade, almost orange.

"Nah, don't worry about it." you dismissed her apology smiling at the tender action. 

You felt like you would have been pulled into a longer conversation, but you heard your brother call from behind you. "C'mon or I'll leave you here." Gabriel teased from the doorway.

“Yeah, yeah! Give me a minute!” You called back, rolling your eyes. “Hey before I go I should get your numbers, so we can plan something.” You said pulling your phone out of your pocket.

“Oh n-no problem. I’ll make q-quick work of it.” Alphys answered snatching your phone out of your hand tapping at it with her claw-like fingers. 

“Thanks?” You chuckled watching her work.

“Fall back Nova, Ladybird needs to get back to the nest.” Gabriel called out again, this time using the codename you came up with when you were a kid. Your dad was a huge fan of secret agents, spies, and heists in films and books and easily passed the interest on to the two of you. You would play spy together all the time, walkie-talkies and ciphers, the whole nine yards. As you grew older you two mostly grew out of it, but some things stuck: the occasional use of the codenames, eventually even giving ones to Morrigan and Vincent, and cryptic text messages. Hell, it was probably how you got into puzzle games in the first place. Your name of course was Nova, because not only were you really into spies, but sci-fi and space, both loves stuck around in one way or another. Gabriel called himself Mayhem because he was older than you and a completely chaotic child who thought he was more badass than he was.

“Don’t you Nova me, Mayhem!” you quipped back, smiling at your and Gabriel’s combined dorkiness that growing up failed to completely dim.  
“H-here you go.” Alphys chirped handing you your phone back.

“WAIT I AM CONFUSED! WHO ARE NOVA AND MAYHEM?” Papyrus asked picking up on your stupid in-joke with your brother.

You blushed again, not really knowing how to explain it to someone new, but then an idea struck you. “You were in the Royal Guard, right?” You asked.  
He nodded, still unsure.

“Well did anyone have codenames? For like stealth or security reasons, or like just really cool nicknames?” You asked.

Papyrus looked to Undyne who clearly had more actual experience in the guard than the kind-hearted skeleton and she answered for him. “Yeah sometimes.” She shrugged. 

“Well it’s like that, it’s kind of just a thing we started doing as kids.” You shrugged back. “It’s like we're our own little team, you know.”  
Papyrus nodded sagely taking in the information.

“No seriously though, I will leave you.” Gabriel warned again.

"I guess that's my cue to leave, I'll text you guys for sure." you assured them, waving goodbye.


	8. Drink, Drank, Drunk

"Hey loser I got soda!" you called out in to you quiet apartment.

You toed off your shoes as soon as you crossed the threshold, tossing you messenger bag onto the floor alongside them. Hemlock lazily looked up from where he was napping on the couch and meowed at you in greeting before putting his head back down neatly on top of his folded paws, drifting back to sleep. 

"You're the loser." came Vincent's childish retort from his room through the slightly cracked open door.

You snorted at the answer, rolling your eyes as you went into the kitchen to fish out the rum. Vincent soon joined you, standing on his tip toes to pull two glasses down from the cabinet. You watched him for a moment as he struggled to reach them off a tall shelf, before he managed to get them down with a huff.

"So how was it?" he asked as he moved around you to the freezer.

"Surprisingly fun. I think this is yours by the way." You reached into your pocket and tossed the bag of glitter at him as he set the cups down on the counter, rolling your eyes at him as you began to pour the drinks. 

He pouted, feigning distress. “Awww, no fun you found it before anyone could use it.”

Your phone beeped, and you ignored him in favor of checking the alert. Pulling up your messages there was a new one from Papyrus. You paused in pouring to read it. 

'HUMAN NOVA! NYEH HEH! I HOPE YOU MADE IT HOME WITH THE GREATEST OF EASE! FROM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!' you smiled at the cute message and showed it to Vincent before sending a quick reply letting him know you were home.

"Wow." Vincent remarked now taking the drink you offered him. “Does he actually talk like that? Also, please don’t tell me you’re getting more people drawn into all of your spy nonsense." He sighed before taking a sip of his drink and immediately making a face at the taste. 

"One, yes, and he's a total sweetheart. Two, you refuse to call my cat by his proper name, but code names are ‘nonsense’?" you answered with a question, taking a swig of your own drink having a much easier time with it than your lightweight friend.

“Touché.” Vincent shrugged taking another tiny sip of his drink, still scowling at the bitter taste on his tongue even as he moved towards the living room.

"Oh, and he's an incredibly tall skeleton man." you shrugged as if it was totally normal, following him into the other room.  
Vincent looked up at you with wide curious eyes, now far more interested. "Really? That's so cool! Do I get to meet your new friends?" he said the last word playfully, taunting your lack of a social circle.

"Totally dude." you answered enthusiastically, ignoring his tone. “I’m basically going to force you to.”

You both settled on the couch as you told him all about Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and Toriel, drinks steadily disappearing. Eventually you put the topic aside and the two of you switched to watching campy old scifi movies, taking breaks to make fun of the hokey acting or dated effects.

"Oh my god, listen to how young NPH sounds in this." Vincent giggled to himself when the late 90’s ‘so bad it’s good’ classic started.

"I know right? He’s such a sweet baby." you nod back in a drunken imitation of sage approval, turning back to the screen only to cheer with a slight slurring in your voice, "Get it kids, crush those bugs!"

Vincent snorted only to recoil seconds later. "Holy shit that lady's laugh is demented!" he winced.

The two of you fell comfortably back into the familiar routine of talking over the movie, making your own comments and jokes. A few drinks and another movie in, you were somehow back on the topic of the monsters you met that night. Vincent was only half-heartedly listening to you ramble as he sleepily leaned against your shoulder with the odd light of some sort of laser fight casting off of the tv.

“Mmmmmhmmmm.” Was his response to whatever nonsense you were repeating over and over in your hazy state.

You frowned at his disinterest when a sudden thought came to you. “I’m gonna text ‘em.” You said aloud, though not really to anyone, as you patted around you in a vague search for your phone.

“Nooo.” He whined through a yawn curling into a ball on the couch. “No drinkin’ and textin’.” He warned sleepily, but his eyes never opened, and his breathing steadied. 

He was unable to stop you, and you weren’t about to take advice from a passed-out person anyway. You rolled your eyes, you were fine to text. Right? Oh well, by the time you found your phone your mind was already made and there was no going back.  
You opened your messages, finding your previous conversation with Papyrus close to the top so you clicked on it. You stared down intently at the little on-screen keyboard for a moment wondering how you ever used it, it was way to small to type quickly on. You managed to navigate the way to small keyboard though and send a message.

‘Paps spagetti and hang?’ it read along with your address.

When he didn’t immediately reply you looked at the time, noticing the hour you shrugged, he was probably asleep. Instead you found your way to your laptop, because music never sounded like a better idea. 

You aren’t sure how long you stayed up that night, but you couldn’t have been asleep long when the thunderous knocking from the door startled you awake. You left your room in time to see Vincent flail wildly as he rolled off of the couch hitting the floor with a thud that made you wince. Even Hemlock yowled annoyed from somewhere, though you didn’t see him. You were a bit sluggish and disoriented but over all thankful for your lack of hangover because the noise right now would be killing you. Your roommate’s groan reinforced your point as he curled in on himself trying to shield his eyes and ears instead of moving from his spot on the floor. 

“Who the hell could that be?” you croaked, finding your mouth dry and your throat sore. 

“Don’ care. Answer. Neighbors.” Vincent managed to get out reminding you that you indeed do live in an apartment building that didn’t have the thickest of walls and it must be early in the morning.

“Coming!” You cried frantically trying to appease the knocker into momentary silence as you nearly stumbled backwards in your attempt to move towards the door, your legs weak and numb. There was a short pause, a moment of reprieve as you forced your legs to work, but it didn’t last long. Too quickly the loud rapping at the door continued. You moved to the door as quick as you could manage with your sluggish limbs protesting all the way and threw open the door with as much power as your tired, groggy body could muster. 

Behind the door you found the tall form of Papyrus stopping his fist mid-knock. His face lit up at the sight of you.

"GOOD MORNING HUMAN!" the familiar booming voice greeted. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE ARIVED READY TO HANG!” He beamed, undeterred by the confusion on your face. Instead he peeked in behind you at you messy living room, still cluttered from last night’s fun.

You were suddenly very aware of your tangled hair and rumpled clothing, what a mess you must be. "I as-" you cleared your painfully dry throat and tried again. "I asked you to come over?" only vaguely remembering texting him last night.

"OH YES, I RECEIVED YOUR REQUEST FOR QUALITY TIME WITH THE GREAT PAPYRUS! Even though your spelling needs some work. AND CAME BRIGHT AND EARLY TO SHARE THE BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE OF BREAKFAST SPAGHETTI!" Papyrus answered nodding eagerly.

A neighbor pounded on a shared wall and you heard the muffled "Shut the fuck up!"

"Please no more yelling." Vincent whined, repeating the sentiment but much nicer.

Remembering last night a little more clearly you replied, “Oh yeah, I remember. Sorry it must have been really late.” You cringed at your drunken self.

“OH IT IS FI-“ He started speaking again in his loud over-eager tone and desperate to make it stop you placed a finger to his teeth shushing him gently.

"Too early, it’s quiet time for building." you chided softly not removing your finger until he nodded in understanding.

“It is fine, it didn’t wake me, however I was very excited to see it this morning.” Papyrus continued on as if you never interrupted him, but at a much more manageable, inside voice.

You finally noticed that he was carrying an armful of grocery bags that you took from him stepping away from the door to allow him in. “Make yourself at home, I’ll be back in just a minute I just woke up." you gestured to your obvious sleep rumbled appearance. "Oh, and that's my roommate Vincent." you added as you passed the couch on your way to the kitchen to set the bags down.

You dropped the bags off and grabbed some painkillers for your whimpering roommate. You decided to fix a cup of water and take a couple of sips to soothe your throat before you headed back to your room to make yourself slightly more presentable, tossing Vincent the bottle on the way. You looked wistfully toward the bathroom, briefly considering going through the effort of showering, but you didn’t have the luxury of time. You didn’t want to make your guest wait longer than necessary so instead you opted to get clean and changed as quickly as you could. After a bit of searching you threw on the first clean black t-shirt you found and some simple jeans and zipped a jacket up over your them for good measure. You then did what you could to tame your matted bed head before just tying it back into its usual loose ponytail and brushed your teeth quickly.

You came back into the living room, which was dimmer than it was before, probably in an attempt to appease Vincent's hangover. You saw he must have been doing a bit better because he was holding your small black cat up to the skeleton and talking to him softly, but happily. As you got closer you could hear the conversation.

"This, O Great Papyrus, is Sir Hemsworth. He nearly died valiantly to obtain this title, so he respectfully urges you to refer to him as such." Vincent was basically preaching, and you groaned.

Papyrus, however, looked enthralled by whatever fantasy story your roommate was weaving about your rescue kitten. It made you want to flip on all the lights in the room just to spite him and his headache. 

Instead you just crossed your arms and mad your presence known. "His name is Hemlock." you intoned. You knew you were fighting a losing battle over your cat's name, and it wasn't going to get any better if he brings Papyrus over to his side.

Somehow Papyrus’s expression managed to mimic a pout without even lips, you were again impressed with his expressiveness with the lack of muscles or skin. You relented to him with a long-suffering sigh. “You can call him Hemsworth if you want.” You said barely suppressing the need to roll your eyes.  
You watched as Papyrus’s expression immediately lifted and he took the kitten into his own arms. "It is very nice to meet you Sir Hemsworth, as I am sure you are exceedingly delighted to meet me." He cooed as Hemlock allowed himself to be coddled, lapping up to the attention like the lazy, spoiled cat he was. He rubbed his small head against Papyrus’s sweater covered ribs purring absently. Papyrus looked awed as he reverently petted Hemlock who was allowed to crawl all over his new friend. 

You took the peaceful moment as a chance to check your phone, finding several enthusiastic texts from Papyrus responding to your cringe worthy drunk text. Quickly clicking away from those you checked the rest of your messages finding one from Alphys asking what anime shows you've seen so she could start planning what to bring to your inevitable viewing party and one from Toriel telling you that she had fun at dinner and hoped to see you again soon.  
You were responding to the texts when you felt Hemlock rub against your legs, causing you to look up, sensing the serene moment was just about over. Papyrus was starting to fidget with impatience, though he looked too timid to break the quiet. You felt a little bad for your earlier bluntness with him. You wondered if you could have handled keeping the peace in your apartment building any better. Slipping your phone in your pocket, you vowed to make it up to him and get that happy, hopeful look back on his face.

“Are you ready for my famous breakfast spaghetti?” Papyrus’s voice eager, but still keeping his quieter tone.

“Yep, ready whenever you are.” You said with a smile, growing excited now that you were more awake.

He instantly bounced back with new energy, grabbing your hand and practically dragging you towards the kitchen. You shrugged back at Vincent as you let the skeleton manhandle you again, stifling a giggle. Vincent responded by scooping the cat up from the floor and held him up by his front legs, waving gently with his little paw as you disappeared into the next room.

Cooking with Papyrus turned out to be more fun than you thought it would be. In the kitchen he seemed more in his element and his volume slowly but surely crept back up to familiar levels, but you barely even noticed through your own boisterous laughter. Vincent had eventually come into the room to sit on the counter and joke over the enthusiastic, verging on violent, manner of cooking Papyrus had coaxed you into. It felt like you were a kid playing in the kitchen at Papyrus’s side smiling and going along with his instructions, even when you would turn the heat down behind his back or insist he use a cutting board. To be fair, the food the two of you made would still likely end up mostly inedible, but that didn’t matter much to you as you and Papyrus flitted around in a blur of activity.

“You are very lucky to have found a friend like THE GREAT PAPYRUS to teach you how to masterfully craft such a dish! Maybe with a bit of practice you too could be as great of a chief as I! Well, maybe not quite as good as me, but very close I am sure!”

“We’re friends?” you asked giddy smile dropping for a moment, unsure.

“WELL OF COURSE WE ARE FRIENDS! You invited me over to your home, and we bonded over my clearly amazing skill in the culinary arts.” He paused for a moment seemingly studying your facial expressions. “WE SHARED GENUINE COMPLIMENTS!” He gestured emphasizing his statements sounding amazed by all of it.

You bit you lip trying to keep yourself reigned in, but it was no use. You couldn’t help but launch excitedly at him wrapping his lanky skeletal form in a tight hug. “I’m really glad you want us to be friends.” You muttered against him trying not to sound too emotional.

Papyrus stiffened as if he didn't know what to do with your sudden attack of affection, but he soon relaxed into your grip and patted the top of your head like one would do to a child. You could hear Vincent snort of laughter from his perch on the counter, but you pointedly ignored him as you slowly disentangling from the embrace.

You turned on your heels to playfully glare at your roommate. Vincent rolled his eyes in an overly dramatic gesture of exasperation but couldn’t keep up the act and instead stuck his tongue out at you teasingly.

“Way to ruin a moment.” You said in a mock annoyed tone.

“Too gushy, emotions are gross.” Vincent said back immediately, hardly having to think about it as you two easily fell into playful bickering.

The banter was cut off when a phone rang in the kitchen, you instinctively reached for your pocket before you saw Papyrus retrieve his own and smile apologetically before answering it. As he held the phone up to his skull in imitation of where a human’s ear would be you scooted closer to Vincent trying to give your guest at least the illusion of privacy.

It was hard to not pay attention as the conversation was more like a quick shouting match. It had no anger behind, but it was full of energy with Papyrus gesturing wildly even though the person on the other end couldn’t see him.

“I hate to run but I have a training session with Undyne!” He announced as he pocketed his phone.

“Training?” you questioned curiously.

Instead of an answer you were lifted from the ground and swung in a circle by Papyrus’s crushing hug. “I MUST LEAVE BUT I WILL BE SURE TO SEE YOU AGAIN HUMAN FRIEND.”

You let out a slightly choked chuckle. “Hard to breathe.”

He dropped you instantly and you crumpled to the ground with a small thud. He scratched at the back of his skull sheepishly as his cheekbone faintly glowed an orange color. “My apologies.” He muttered offering you a hand to help you up.

“’S fine, just warn a girl next time.” You shrugged pulling yourself of the floor with his help. “I’ll talk to you later, go have fun.” You shooed him blithely.

Papyrus nodded easily and left the apartment in a whirlwind of excitement to get to his training session, whatever that entailed, leaving you and Vincent in your mess of a kitchen. In his wake you and your roommate stared at the ruined dish of horribly over-cooked pasta you created. The silence felt as though it stretched forever before his stomach rumbled unhappily and yours responded similarly.

“You wanna go out to eat?” He asked.

“Yeah, there’s a new place I want to check out.” You answered already looking up Grillby’s on your phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know I get into a bad cycle of taking forever to post, but here is chapter 8!  
> Don't feel shy, leave me feedback!  
> By the way the next chapter is finally going to have Sans in it! I guess I take slow burn very seriously...  
> But lots of Sans next chapter.


	9. Hot Bartenders

You very quickly began to regret your decision to take a taxi. The ride seemed to take an eternity, and you felt trapped, shackled into the backseat of the yellow metal prison. You found yourself gritting your teeth in annoyance, nearing the breaking point of shit you could put up with from the driver. It wasn’t just you, Vincent's entire focus was funneled into his phone. He was staring down at it so hard you worried it would burst into flame due to sheer determination to ignore the man.

“All I’m saying is, I think everyone would be more comfortable if they just kept to themselves." The taxi driver added to the lengthy rant he was on about monsters. Chuckling as if it was pleasant conversation he spoke again mimicking secret sharing. “Personally, I think they should just go back to that hole honestly, Right?” Even though the both of you ignored him, he didn’t stop. It was disgusting, you didn't even know there were that many racist slurs people had come up with for the peaceful race. “I mean seriously!” He chuckled jovially.

You checked the map on your phone again, praying to whichever deity in the sky that wanted to listen that you got there soon. You could feel your anger rising, calming yourself with the thought that it would really suck to go to jail on an empty stomach. Thankfully, whatever cruel force that was currently screwing with you must have grown bored because you saw you were approaching the restaurant. “Just drop us off on the corner here.” You directed trying to keep your voice even.  
Vincent let out a long breath beside you, some tension easing off his features. You however were still stressed and upset that you had to stay in the man's presence for even another second.

The driver had the nerve to scoff as you pulled in front of the quite honestly beautiful, rustic looking diner. "See, places like this, these monster-run businesses are bringing down this whole neighborhood." he sighed shaking his head sadly to himself only causing you to grimace further. "Careful as you pass by ma'am who knows what those things get up to."

Vincent reached out to you as if in a silent attempt to quell your rising rage. It didn't help, and he couldn't blame you, he did however scurry quickly out of the car without a word.

“Actually, this is my stop.” You forced yourself to smile as you tensely handed him his fair. “It looks like a great place for lunch.” You said in an eerily calm rage flinging the door open so harshly it bounced on its hinges back to you.

"You’re not really going in there are you?" his face morphed from utter confusion to contempt as he snarled, "That ain’t no place for a nice young lady."  
You stepped outside the car but leaned back in to get the final word "Maybe I’m not a," You rolled your eyes and said the next bit with air quotes. “’nice young lady’ but at least I am a good person.” With that you slammed the car door, something petty you couldn’t help but indulge in.

The taxi peeled away from the curb, and you allowed yourself another petty indulgence, flipping it off as it sped away. As soon as the yellow blob disappeared out of sight you sagged and exhaled wearily. You noticed a few people and monsters watching your outburst curiously, causing you to shove your hands into you jacket pockets and look down at your feet.

Vincent returned to his place at your side but instead of looking at him you just lifted your head to watch the calming movement and flickering lights from inside the building’s large window that spanned nearly the entire length of the wall. 

Vincent shifted awkwardly from foot to foot before releasing an exaggerated breath of air "So Grillby's huh? How hot do you think that grill be?" he laughed nervously at his own joke.

You gave him a half-hearted glare that quickly became a smile. "I'm pretty sure that's the owner's name." you let out a small laugh as you bumped his shoulder with yours.

Sensing the tension in the air quickly evaporating he smiled and continued, "I repeat, how hot you think that Grill Be?"  
You rolled your eyes but continued to smile. "Come on dork, I'm starving." You said, walking into the building with him following at your heels as he giggled to himself.

Upon entering the diner, the bell hanging over the door rang causing all sorts of different monsters to look up at you and Vincent for a long moment. Most regarded you with curious expressions, but some looked wary to see you. They soon all returned to their activities, a wide variety of monsters all so different from each other ate, drank, played cards, and chatted happily together. A small group of humans sat on their own in one small booth tucked away in a corner curiously trying to study the monsters without looking at them for too long. You noticed the smell, standing in place for a moment to take it in. The aroma clung thickly in the air was like a mixture of a wood burning stove, burgers, and something sweet you couldn't put a name to. It was mouth-watering, and your stomach growled violently at the scent. Belatedly you noticed the warmth of the place. Glancing around you figured that it was probably due to the large number of people inside with help from the candles on the tables. Hunger mostly in control now, you pulled Vincent past the more crowded central area crammed with tables and booths and moved instead towards the bar along the back wall that looked like it was straight out of a noire film.

As you took your seat at the bar and glanced around in search of a waiter or bartender you soon laid eyes on what was probably the biggest reason why this place was actually this toasty amidst the bitter autumn weather. You leaned over to tell Vincent, but his eyes were already locked on the heat source.

"Oh. That hot." Vincent whispered breathlessly.

Fire. It took you a moment to quell your panic. The place was not on fire. The fire was man shaped. A thin, stately man who appeared to be entirely made of fire. The flames around him crackled and danced in an entrancing way that reminded you of watching the fireplace during winters as a kid. He kind of seemed overdressed for the venue. His neatly pressed black pants and matching vest looked out of place in a bar this casual and cozy, but it somehow fit the timeless vibe. He turned toward you a pair of black, neat rectangular framed glasses sat on his face making it clear where he should have eyes. When the man made of fire saw you he nodded in acknowledgment. It completely fascinated you the way he didn't have any clear facial features, yet you still got the gist of his expression.

“Oh, of course Vinny. You fucking pyro.” You rolled your eyes, but you agreed the man was very intriguing, and also kind of confusing. You once again had to silently remind yourself that magic was real even though it still felt very odd to think about, since you never used to believe in that sort of thing. Though, if a bartender literally made of fire didn't start to fully drive the fact permanently into your brain nothing else probably ever would.

As if drawn to you and Vincent’s intrigue the fire monster gracefully approached you dropping off a very short menu before flitting away again, giving you what you interpreted as an apologetic look as another monster motioned him over. Vincent pulled his leather jacket to himself and you knew he wasn’t cold, it was way too warm in here. It was a shy gesture, it was even easier to tell when he begun to curl up into himself. His social anxiety had to be hitting some pretty high levels.

You nudged him encouragingly, "C'mon dude, lighten up." you stage whispered to him in a playful manner.

You thought it was the overly crowded restaurant he was having an issue with, he didn’t really like talking to new people or large groups. Though you were hopeful he would have fun because he genuinely seemed more comfortable around monsters than other humans. He gave you that pleading stare, the one with those big round puppy eyes that only he could pull off that innocently. Once he was sure he had your attention his eyes quickly darted back to the fire elemental pointedly.

"Ooooh." The realization dawned on you suddenly and you saw the blush creep up his face. He couldn't speak up because he thought the bartender was cute. He gave you a weak nod in confirmation and you smiled comfortingly at him. "You can do it man. Go for it." you urged him on eagerly with a light punch to his arm.  
He shot you a glare, but there was no malice behind it. You returned it with a stern expression. Vincent groaned and swiveled back to face the bar in his stool. The man made of fire returned appearing very patient, though you seriously weren't sure if he was making these expressions or if you were imagining them since his few facial features seemed as though they would be impossible to read. You still felt as though you got the gist of what they meant.

Both you and the monster behind the bar patiently watched as Vincent took a moment gathering all of his courage, straightening himself out and sitting as tall as he could in his seat. Vincent offered the bartender a shy smile after clearing his throat. 

"S-so uh... Has anyone ever told you that you look really hot?" Vincent finished, smiling a little brighter clearly a bit proud of his pickup line.  
You groaned barely resisting the urge to hide your face in your hands, embarrassed that he actually used that dumb pun to the barman’s face. You braced yourself for the awkward silence, but it never came. Instead you heard a deep chuckle rumble behind you.

"yeah, i'm pretty sure i have."

You jumped, startled at the sudden interruption, but Vincent nearly fell off his seat. His face was entirely red, and his eyes went wide in shock.  
You turned to face the speaker to find a short skeleton watching the two of you with an amused smile. He was about the same height as Vincent, he stood with his stands shoved into his baggie blue hoodie, standing in a pose that exuded casual ease. You quickly turned back to Vincent to see your friend’s face had grown so dark with his blushing it was kind of worrying. He let his head drop down on the counter with a dull thud and a defeated whimper.

The bartender’s breathy laughter drew the attention of everyone within earshot. It sounded like crackling logs in a bonfire, and made the air feel warmer. Vincent’s head immediately darted up, the embarrassment in his eyes replaced with awe. If he was a cartoon character, there would have been gleaming stars in his eyes.  
“Now, now Sans. Play nice with the new customers, unlike you they don’t have tabs yet.” It was the first words you heard the monster actually speak and you watched in amazement as his face cracked open becoming a mouth. The only word you could think of to describe his voice was… smokey.

“aww, c’mon grillbz. you know i ain’t gotta _bone_ to pick with nobody.” The skeleton who must have been Sans shrugged, posture slacking even further as he did, slipping away to pull himself up onto a nearby barstool.

Wait, Sans? Why was that name familiar to you? Had you heard it recently? You were pretty sure that you had.

Then it clicked. You instantly felt stupid, a skeleton named Sans.

“Wait! Sans?” You asked aloud while frowning at the furnace like heat in Grillby’s, shucking off your jacket mid thought. “Are you Papyrus’s brother?” Turning away from your friend instead facing the ever smiling skeleton, you questioned the new monster at the bar.

He chuckled, it was a lazy but really pleasing sound. He turned to face you “who’s askin’?” His retort cut short as he made a strange choking noise.

Your eyebrows scrunched up in immediate confusion. You followed his line of sight from the bright white pinpricks of light that seemed to serve as pupils. They lead down to your now visible tee shirt. You weren’t even sure what you were wearing, having grabbed it in a rush this morning. When you caught a look at the design you couldn’t help but laugh, mostly out of nervous habit, as your cheeks glowed with a heated blush. 

Standing out starkly from the black fabric was the design two white, skeletal arms wrapped around the shirt with their hands placed over your breast.

The atmosphere of bar was warm and inviting with the soft lights flickering dimly like candles, casting slowly swaying shadows across the dark wood paneling of the walls. All around, the ambient chatter and laughter reverberated happily through the large cluttered building and filled the space with life. Despite all the joyous noise and the general uplifting mood, you and the skeleton sitting beside you had fallen into a slightly uneasy staring contest after your nervous laughter petered out. Drawing your bottom lip between your teeth you couldn’t be sure how much time had passed since took your jacket off making the interaction tense. You definitely didn’t know what to say in this situation, you’ve honestly never encountered one like it before, so you just let the awkwardness hang thickly between you. Unable to stop staring at him you thought you saw his cheekbones turn a faint blue color, but it was gone so quickly you weren’t sure if it was some kind of trick of the light. He was first the break the silence causing you to let out the breath you didn’t realize you were even holding.

“gotta _hand_ it to ya kid, that’s a pretty cool shirt.” His smile stretcher into an amused smirk as he gestured nonchalantly at the design.

“I didn’t even realize I was wearing it I am so so- Was that pun?” you asked in disbelief, your minding reeling at his reaction. Glaring when he began to laugh.

“nottin’ gets past you huh?” Sans shrugged settling into a far more relax position.

You opened your mouth to speak, but nothing came out. So, you closed it again with a slight frown, staring at him while you tried to process. Was he making fun of you? Did he think you were dumb? Luckily you were saved the mental energy of overthinking it when an urgent nudge from Vincent. 

“Dude, I’m starving.” He whined pushing the menu into your open hands, willing you to order quickly before Grillby moved on to another costumer again.  
You briefly scanned the, admittedly limited, menu. You wondered to silently over some of the stranger items that caught your eye, but you knew as soon as you saw a description that made your stomach growl embarrassingly what you wanted. 

“The burger for me.” You smiled up at Grillby handing your menu back over to the bartender before glancing back to your friend who was nodding in passionate agreement. You waited a beat to see if he’d speak up, but he seemed unable to do anything more than watch Grillby in lovesick awe. So, you spoke up for him, “Make  
that two.” Taking Vincent menu, you offered it to Grillby as well.

Grillby nodded taking both menus from you and wandered off into a backroom that must of housed the kitchen.

Vincent stared after him as he left, and you rolled your eyes. “Can I take you anywhere without you crushing on some guy?”

He sputtered turning back to lightly slap your arm, his face turning red again. “I do not crush on guys everywhere! And I mean…” he paused his furious blush darkening. “HE”S MADE OUT OF FIRE WHAT AM I SUPPOSE TO DO?”

You laughed at his flustered speech. “Of course, you fucking pyro.” 

He crossed his arms in a huff “First of all, I am not a pyro… fire is just aestheti-“ he sighed cutting off his usual response. “secondly it’s not just, just that…” he muttered defensively pulling his jacket closer to himself once more as if trying to sink in it to get away from the conversation.

Taking pity, you relented from picking on your friend and instead you could resist the urge to curiously glance around the bar. You deeply regret not having your camera on you. When you caught sight of the skeleton sitting next you it caused you to groan, instantly mentally berating yourself for your pervious fuck up. You tried to come up with something to say to end the silence without sounding like an idiot or a jerk. He was your new friend’s brother, so you didn’t really want him to hate you. It was admittedly more for Papyrus’s sake than your own, you didn’t really mind people not liking you, though for some reason this felt different. 

Your eyes grew wide at the thought of Papyrus, you suddenly remembered this is the shirt you put on when he was over earlier. You were instantly glad for jackets, sending a silent thank you for their invention. 

“Papyrus didn’t see this shirt.” You blurted out in a matter of fact manner, not really to anyone in particular more just comforting yourself in that fact.  
Instantly you knew that sounded ridiculous, your stare boring into the bottles lining the back of the bar as if they had suddenly become fascinating. You could only hope it didn’t come out of your mouth as loud as you thought it did. Though, you were pretty sure he heard you because he choked on his drink, one of his skeletal hands shoot up to cover his mouth but doing little to help the amber liquid from spraying out and dribbling down his chin.

“m’sorry, what?” he asked voice rough as he tried to clear his throat, coughing slightly. His attention was now locked on you again.

“I uh, just realized I was wearing this shirt when I saw him earlier… and that just… feels weird.” You mumbled picking at the hem of your shirt, eyes darting from the bar to him over and over finding it hard to keep contact with those bright lights in his socket trained on you.

“so, you’re the new human tori was talkin’ about heh.” His head tilted a bit to the side and his eyes never wavering. He watched you as if he was searching your face for something.

“Um? Maybe, I guess?” you tried to smile but it was weak. “I’m kinda making a bad first impression, right?” you grimaced, remembering how dumb you came off to Toriel as well.

“God, which one of us is worse at meeting new people?” Vincent chuckled having been eagerly eavesdropping.

You left out a startled laugh a Vincent’s interjection, but before you could reply Grillby had come back from the kitchen with a plate in either hand. The smell alone made your mouth water as he placed them in front of you, and Vincent couldn’t help but stare at his burger lovingly at the big, juicy burger. Vincent even ley out a slightly pornographic moan next to you as took a large bite and nodded enthusiastically.

Eager to dig into your own you scanned the bar in search of ketchup. You pouted upon not finding any and you considered flagging Grillby back down to ask for some when something firm was tapped against you’re the back of your hand. Looking up you saw Sans, he had apparently figured out your dilemma and was leaning over to you, arm outstretched. He was holding out a glass bottle to you tapping it against your hand to get your attention. 

You looked at him, not sure of what to say. He just shrugged at your silence and set the ketchup next to you. 

“no need to _bottle_ things up, you should speak up. plus, it looks like you need’a _ketchup_ with your friend.” He nodded at Vincent who had already eaten half his burger with zeal.

You repressed an eye roll at his puns and nodded in thanks. Taking the bottle from the counter you moved the top bun aside and tilted the ketchup over the burger only to have the top fall off and a river of red spill from it messily coating your plate.

You could hear San’s laughing off to your side. You frowned at your plate, had he sabotaged you?

“sorry‘ll get a you a new…” He started, confirming your suspicions, but you shrugged to yourself and picked the top off your food and replacing the bun. 

You took a big bite, you usually drowned your food in ketchup anyway. 

Vincent grimaced looking up from his own plate. “Ugh, I don’t know how you can eat that. It’s disgusting.”

“Don’t you judge my burger.” You answered back. “You can’t throw stones, you put salt in your chocolate milk.” 

Vincent slammed his burger down on the plate looking very offended at you comment. “A little bit of salt enhances the flavor of chocolate!”

You laughed and shook your head at his outburst. “It’s so wrong though.”

Sans chuckled, again catching your attention, and once he noticed he had it again his smile grew wider. “my _condiments_ to the fellow ketchup lover.” He winked and brought the now half empty bottle to teeth and tipped his head back to down the rest of it’s contents like it was nothing.

You smirked at him amused, the food warm in you stomach making you more comfortable. His face fell for only a second to express disappointment at your lack of response. Probably hoping his drink of choice would make you squeamish.

“Well, I guess we have something in common, that’s a good start. I’m sure we’ll find out more thing we agree on.” You said.

He shrugged, the blue hood of his jacket bunching up around his skull. “if you’re plannin’ on stayin’round that long maybe.” His smiled dopily.

You were going to ask what he meant by that, but your phone rang out its whirring Dr. Who tone alerting you that your brother was calling. Your eyebrows furrowed together, not expecting his call. “Sorry I have to take this.” You apologized to Sans while fishing your phone out of your pocket.

“Hey Gabe, what’s up?” you answered your phone with a smile, covering your other ear in hopes it would make you hear better in the loud bar.

“Morrigan is asking about her mom again.” Came his voice, it sounded quieter and sadder then you had heard his voice in a long time.

The smile quickly slid from your face. “I’m on my way.”

He mumbled out some kind of goodbye response before hanging up. 

“I’m sorry, I gotta go. Nice to meet you.” You said this time to the people on either side of you.

“What’s wrong?” Vincent half whispered in worry.

Pulling out the money for your meal, passing it to Vincent. “Gabriel needs me.” You said as you did, hoping he wouldn’t press further. You were doing all you could to keep yourself looking calm and polite.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk with you?” He asked hesitantly.

You answered with a look.

He sighed as he backed down. “Alrighty then, see you later.” 

“Later.” You agreed. You hated the way your voice sounded so cold and stern. You leapt down from your barstool sparing Vincent and Sans one last strained smile as you pulled your jacket back on. You fled without another thought.


	10. Comfort Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'm on tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/blog/themalicealyce  
> Plus please feel free too comment or message me, I love feedback!

You knocked loudly on your brother’s apartment door, hating how erratic it sounded as you tried to calm yourself. Bracing your nerves for the state you were sure to find him in, you took a few deep breaths. Yet you felt it would never be enough. When he opened the door and you saw his face so broken and sullen, you could feel your heart shattering again. 

A frown didn’t seem right on his face, not a real deep seeded frown like the one he was currently wearing anyway. Before you even crossed the threshold into his home you smothered him in a hug. You tried to convey all the love and sympathy you could through that little gesture. He returned the embrace, clinging to you silently as you shook with restless energy. 

“Where is she?” you asked, voice hardly above a whisper, as you pulled back to study his face trying to gauge how bad off he was.

“In her room. She's mad at me.” Gabriel finally spoke, but his voice was weak as he stepped aside to let you in.

“She’s six Gbae, she's just pouting. She’ll get over it. That little girl loves you more than anything in the world.” The last time Morrigan had asked about her mother she had just started going to school and learned that a lot of other kids had ‘a daddy and a mommy’. You had a feeling it would be brought up again after the question was asked in front of her at Toriel’s.

He grumbled in something that sounded like agreement before he slumped down onto his couch, curling into a defeated pile.

“What did you tell her?” You asked, voice still soft, as if he was fragile and could break at any moment.

“The same thing I always do. She doesn’t have a mom.” He exhaled waving his hand aimlessly.

“That answer won't kept her satisfied for long, you know Morrigan is just as curious and nosy as we were as kids.” You answered as gently as you could. “You will have to tell her someday. Better yet, let me tell her. I have no sympathy for her bitch of a mother.” You offered casually, sitting next him. 

“I’ll tell Morrigan when she’s older, when she’ll understand. I don’t want her to see me as the bad guy keeping a mom from her.” He sighed, his fingers ghosting over the scar on his left forearm that he had tried to hide with tattoos, absentmindedly. 

“You need a good night’s sleep, Gabe.” You sighed running your fingers through his more wild than normal hair, trying to pet it down. “Do you want me to take Morri to school in the morning?” 

Gabriel nodded weakly, managing out a tired “Mhmmm.” 

“Go to sleep Gabe, I’ll take care of her tonight.” You urged, gently pushing him to go lay down in bed. He groaned, but relented, sluggishly making his way off the couch. “Don’t tel-“

“I’m not going to say anything, you know me better than that. I promised to keep my lips sealed until you think she’s ready.” You agreed easily rolling your eyes. He nodded and slunk off to his room. You watched him go with a heavy sigh. The second his door closed you buried your head in your hands. Your heart was beating too fast and it was getting harder to breath the more you thought about it. Sometimes you thought it wasn’t fair that you had to be the strong protective one for your older brother. You knew those thoughts were wrong. You wouldn’t trade Gabriel for anything. It hurt to think about the thoughts, so you pushed them away as you took calming breaths. 

“Why does Daddy get so upset whenever I ask about my mom?”  
You looked up upon hearing the small questioning voice to find Morrigan looking smaller and more still than normal.

“Cause the story doesn’t really have a happy ending, sweetheart. He’ll tell you when he’s ready.” You forced down your racing thoughts, smiling for her. “Wanna watch a movie with me?” You asked, hoping to divert her attention.

Morrigan seemed to consider your words. You could tell she wasn’t satisfied with your or Gabriel’s answers. However, she nodded slowly and sat down on the couch with you, pulling herself into your lap.

You pet her hair in the same soothing gesture you were used to applying to her father. “Don’t worry about it too hard, sweatheart. Your dad loves you.”

She huffed out a sigh, but nodded anyway. “I know.” She agreed.

You sat with her on your lap on the couch, petting her hair until you heard her stomach rumble. “Hungry Morri?”

“Yeah.” She answered, coming back to life slowly.

You flicked on the tv and opened Netflix for her, handing her the remote. “Mac and Cheese?” You asked moving yourself out from under her.

“Yeah!” She agreed, a bit happier as she searched through her movie options. 

You smiled and leaned down to kiss her temple. “Got it.”

You made your way to your brother’s small kitchen, wishing Gabriel could be so easily comforted by colorful cartoons and food you could make out of a box.  
You shook your head, trying to force yourself out of a loop of overthinking as you boiled some water. To distract yourself, you looked through your phone, trying to find someone to text to cheer you up. 

You couldn’t text Vincent, he was probably already worrying too much, but you didn’t really know anyone else enough to bother. Scanning through some numbers, you found yourself with your thumb lingering over Papyrus’s name. You bit your lip as you thought about it. He did just say you were his friend, right? He was just over at your house this morning, is it too early to text him?

It stayed on your mind while you cooked, until you made up your mind and texted Papyrus ‘Hey since you’re my friend now we could make up code names.’ You chuckled as you sent it.

You were sitting down on the couch with Morrigan with food by the time he responded. ‘EXCELLENT IDEA! WE COULD USE THEM FOR GREAT FRIENDSHIP BUFFOONERY!’

‘Yup! What would your name be?’ You replied.

You didn’t get an answer from him for a while. You had time to finish the movie and get a small sign language lesson from Morrigan, what Gabriel had been teaching her, before he texted you again.

‘AFTER MUCH DELIBERATION, I HAVE DECIDED TO GIVE YOU THE HONOR OF BESTOWING ME A CODE NAME!’  
You were taken aback by that answer. You didn’t really know him well. Any name you picked would be only based on what you knew from the two times you’d seen him.

You thought about it the whole time you put Morrigan to bed. ‘How about Captain Bones, Bones for short.” You giggled, thinking about the skeleton character for a tv show you only half remembered from your childhood. 

You spent a long time that night laying on the couch, texting back and forth with Papyrus, trying to muffle your laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://themalicealyce.tumblr.com/image/172782721249
> 
> My friend at https://twitter.com/WaxDoppelganger
> 
> Drew some “fanart” for my fanfic Sarcasm and Puns his idea of the reader character.


	11. Coffee ChatTM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter, but this felt this chapter was best left here.  
> I REALLY REALLY WANTED TO GET OUT A LONGER CHAPTER BUT I HAVE BEEN INSANELY BUSY.  
> So The quicker I get this out the quicker I can the big, next chapter out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone pointed out to me that I goofed something up big time so here this chapter out again but right this time, I seemed to have accidentally put the same conversation from chapter 3 here, so here is this chapter again hopefully patched up!

One hand was buried deep in your jacket pocket and the other was wrapped around the heat of a paper coffee cup. You were clutching it close to you like it was your only life line as you made your way to work. Fresh from seeing your niece get on the bus, you sloshed down the sidewalk that led towards the mall through the gentle autumn rain. You were in your own head, the path being nearly second nature you had a lot of time to think. 

The sun had just started to rise, but it was still dark with small glimmering rays of light daring to peek out through heavy clouds and from behind tall buildings. Cars were becoming more plentiful on the streets, spraying the sidewalk with the puddles that their tires picked up more and more as the traffic grew. The few people out and on the sidewalk bustled by, most with their heads down and covered to try and avoid the downpour, absorbed in their own thoughts. 

The normal urban sounds were slightly muted under the thrumming white noise of the seasonal rain that drummed down around you. You had always liked the rain. The pitter-patter sounds and the petrichor calmed you, giving you an odd feeling of peace. 

So wet, cold, tired, and nerves still frayed you held a small smile for a moment and just let the water beat over you. Letting out a calming breath as you continued down your route, turning down the corner that led into the center plaza of the mall. 

You spotted a familiar splash of bright red and yellow against the industrial greys and off whites of the surrounding city. The vibrant mix of colors was the umbrella that topped the quaint little food trolley. It was an expected presence that you recognized as the Nice Cream cart that Gabriel loved. In your opinion is was too cold out for ice cream, getting a bit colder each passing week. However, you simply shrugged to yourself as you saw the pastel blue bunny monster leaning casually against the metal cart wearing his typical shorts and short sleeved work shirt. You supposed that was just one of the perks of having fur.

He smiled and waved earnestly to any and everyone he saw as they passed by him. Most people ignored him in favor of seeking shelter from the rain, receiving at most a returned smile as they hurried by. You racked your brain for a moment trying to put a name to the face, but you came up empty.

“Lovely weather, huh?” You asked as you passed the bunny, gesturing upward toward the sky happily getting rained on.

At first, he seemed taken aback, but he quickly chippered up. “Can’t have a rainbow without rain!” He responded cheerily.  
You smiled and nodded, waving a goodbye as you left to disappear into the building. 

Once again, you started the work week with barely any sleep and more coffee than was probably healthy to compensate. After what happened last night and adjusting your plans to stay the night at your brother’s apartment, you were too tense to get any proper rest before this morning. Luckily with the caffeine coursing through your veins, and the pleasant rainfall, you’ve kept yourself from dwelling on your worry. 

Gabriel was still asleep when you left early this morning, but he called you later when you ducked into a coffee shop to let you know that Morrigan was staying late at school. You figured that meant he had to be feeling at least a little better. He was at least awake and capable of thought outside of his lingering anxieties. 

“Hey man, over here.” You heard a breathy voice say, drawing you out of your train of thoughts.

Chandler's usual greeting pulled you back into reality and you smiled. She wasn't with Nathan like she usual was and B.P. was not around. 

“Hey Chandler, on your own this morning?”

“Yeah. Dude, you look tired what’s up?” she frowned, eyebrows furrowing in concern.

“Nothing,” you waved off the question. “Just didn’t sleep well.” It was a stock response for you, but it was kind of true this time. You spent most of the night tossing and turning on Gabriel’s couch.

The concern didn’t lighten, “You know you can always come over to my place if your in a bad way.”

“Yeah, and smoke your supply?” You joked trying to force this conversation away from something deep.

“Heh, you’re welcome to sample my wares. Didn’t figured you did but you seem like you could use a good chill session.”

“I mean I don’t, usually. I did in college a bit but honestly I wouldn’t even know where to get that from.”

“Me.” She smiled, this time it reached all the way to her eyes.

“I will keep that in mind.” You nodded as you glanced over to check the large wall clock in the highway out of habit. You choked a bit on your coffee when you suddenly noticed how little time you had left to get to work. You groaned, and then grumbled out a snarky, “I’m sorry but that’s all the time we have for today. As always Coffee ChatTM is brought to you by not wanting to get to work too early and is filmed in front of a live security camera. Be sure to catch us next Monday, same time, same hallway.”

“Seriously dude, I’m always around. You know where to find me.”

You gave her a dismissive wave, then turned on your heels towards the portrait studio.


	12. ART

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I hope these doesn't ruin any headcannons or anything (not like what I write is worthy of headcannons) but this is a small picture of how I image The reader, Gabriel, and Vincent.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/289569278716280843/513024877972684801/group3.jpg


	13. Play School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AND I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED THE CHAPTER AFTER THIS BEFORE THIS ONE!?! WHY DID I NOT POST THIS ONE FIRST???!?!? GUYS I'M MESSING EVERYTHING UP I'M SO SORRY BUT I GUESS BOTH CHAPTERS GET TO GO UP AT ONCE NOW I'll just pretend I'm not extremely upset with my series of horrible mistakes.  
> They are in the right order now, but this chapter was supposed to go up first giving me more time to write because I had then next one lined up but now they're both up and I'm stressed.

From the mall to the elementary school was a bit out of your comfort zone in terms of walking distance, so you opted to take the bus. You were a little put off with the idea of taking another cab and used to taking public transportation to cover large stretches of land. Not having a car and living in the city, it was inevitable. You really didn’t enjoy being crowded into a metal tube with a large mishmash of people that all came with their own smells and noises. It was a functional experience at best. Though, it allowed you to get lost in your thoughts and stare out of the window.

When you got to your stop you almost didn’t even notice. You were lost deep in thought. The kind that you could not remember the second you snapped out of them. When you noticed where you were, you hurried off the bus, eager to be back on the sidewalk breathing fresh air. You stretched for a moment, but otherwise wasted no time in continuing back on your path, finding yourself approaching the school soon enough.

The school was a quaint little building, a pristine white stone structure with light blue accents. It’s surrounding grounds were kept tidy and green with life. It looked almost out of place, as if it was shoved into a stretch of concrete jungle. There was a decent amount of grassy space with room enough for a small sports field and a playground nestled around the back. You could vaguely see some kids playing back there, kicking a ball around.

The parking lot was mostly empty, but even as you crossed it, it began to fill with cars of parents. You instinctively pulled up the hood of your jacket as if willing yourself invisible. You kept your eyes locked on the double doors, crossing your arms, bringing them closer to your body. You never felt comfortable in a sea of overbearing PTA moms and little league dads.

Pushing past the doors you entered a long open corridor. The white exterior walls gave way to color. The inside had been painted with colorful murals and covered in a layer of children’s art and projects. There was not a blank white wall in sight. You were only vaguely familiar with the area, just the entrance and the office, from trips you made to pick up Morrigan before. This felt different though. The corridor wasn’t filled with a swarm of kids ready to leave, nor was she waiting just inside the office. The bright cheery atmosphere did little to settle the unease you felt.  
Standing inside the building now and looking around, you couldn’t help but feel lost.

Gabriel had only told you that Morrigan was staying after school, and the vagueness of that now infuriated you. You hadn’t pressed him at the time, he still seemed fragile in a way that only he could. It would sound like laughter and playful barbs, but his tone would be off. That did however leave you with no clue how to proceed. You felt like retreating further into your jacket, a thought that conjured images of Vincent bundled up in moments of social anxiety.

You stood there for a long moment dwelling in indecisiveness before taking a long inhale. You held your breath for a moment before letting out an equally long exhale.

You considered finding a faculty member to ask. Though you didn’t really know what you would say. You couldn’t really go up to the front desk and say, ‘Where do you keep your children at this hour?’. Instead you decided you could figure this out on your own. A good first step was to check the large bulletin board, so you could at least narrow down the clubs or events she might be at.

You didn’t get halfway across the hallway before the almost creepy quiet of the school was interrupted by a thunderous slam. A door flung open and bounced back against the wall, and just like that the floodgates were opened. At least you were no longer in liminal space hell. Kids poured out of a room near the end of the corridor in a sea of loud chatter coming towards you like a wave to the shore.

You somehow managed to pick Morrigan out of the mass. She walked with the usual bounce in her step, causing her blue dress and hair to swing with her movement. She didn’t notice you at first. She was too busy talking to a cute little bunny monster with thick, fluffy white fur who looked as though she might be a bit older than her.

You smiled at that. You were glad that once she had settled into the new home and school she had started to make friends. It amazed you that she was so young when the barrier broke, she never really lived in a world without monsters. It all came so easily to her. The sheer amount of monster students talking happily with the human students gave you hope. You were pretty sure there were a couple of monster teachers who taught at this school too, and in that moment, you remembered that Toriel taught here. It brought a smile to your face.

Pulling yourself out of your mushy thoughts you were just in time to see that Morrigan had apparently noticed you in the hallway. To be fair, you towered over the students and stuck out like a sore thumb in your hoodie and work clothes.

She called out to you and raced over, launching herself into a hug. You laughed as you caught her with some effort. She really was getting heavier.

“Hey Morri.” You smiled warmly as you released her. “What are you doing at school this late?”

“Didn’t Daddy tell you? We’re playing Wizard of Oz on the big stage!” Morrigan said with all of her normal enthusiasm.

“You mean you’re going to do a play?” you gently corrected.

She just nodded in a grandiose manner before eagerly continuing. “Yeah! We’re going to do a play. Today we gotta go on stage and pretend to be characters from Wizard of Oz! Miss Green is gonna pick who gets gets to be who, but Imma be in the play!” She finished with a flourish looking up at you with wide eyes, waiting for your response.

Morrigan had always shared you and Gabriel’s dramatic flair, and she loved to tell stories. You knew this had a real chance of being something she loved. You knew named parts would go to older kids, and you knew she would happily be a background character. You knew all of these things, and you knew that they should make you happy. You weren’t though. You were not as happy as you should have been.

You couldn’t help how uncomfortable it made you feel, or the lump that formed in your throat. Torn between the sickening deja vu of the moment and how over the moon your niece looked, you shut down for a brief moment, unable to reconcile both feelings at once. Though you were able to quell your own fears, pushing them down for Morrigan’s sake. You were happy for her after all, and there was no need to upset her over something that happened before she was ever born.

“That’s amazing sweetie.” You said, pinching her cheeks.

She rebuffed your affection with a giggle, “Stop it.” She whined through a laugh, wiggling out of your grasp.

“Yeah, yeah.” You relented your attack, instead taking her much smaller hand in your own to guide her out of the building with you.

As you walked out of the school and down the sidewalk, Morrigan began to tell you about her day. You happily nodded along as she went, only pausing for short responses from you.

She suddenly cut herself off mid-sentence, tugging on your hand as if to pull you toward the field as she yelled out, “Frisk!” 

Caught off guard you instinctively held tight, pulling her back to your side as you looked up. You were somehow surprised to see Frisk bounding up to the two of you with a wide smile on her face and an exuberant wave, even though Morrigan clearly announced her presence. Frisk was wearing some kind of school sports uniform covered in grass stains and followed by an amused looking Toriel. The thought finally processing in you brain, you released Morrigan’s hand to allow her to meet Frisk half way. 

She was gone the second you let go, and in no time she was hugging her friend. Though it didn’t take long for her to pull away and excitedly launch into showing Frisk the limited signs she managed to learn from Gabriel since the last time they were together. They were basic and clumsy but her mute friend nodded with excitement twinkling in her eyes. 

“Good morning, and of course to your aunt as well.” Toriel smiled as she reached you and without thought you returned her greeting with a nod. “We were just leaving soccer practice, what kept you so late at school, little one?” 

“Play auditions!” Morrigan answered cheerily.

“My, well isn’t that fun.” Toriel smiled, clasping her hands together.

Frisk nodded in agreement, giving your niece a thumbs up with both hands, which of course had Morrigan giggling and beaming. 

“Well if you two don’t need to hurry off, there is this little pizza place Frisk and I always go to after soccer practice, if you would like to join us. It’s not too far, within walking distance.” Toriel offered.

Morrigan’s stomach rumbled in response and both kids looked at eachother excitedly. You shrugged. You had Morrigan for a while and if this meant you didn’t have to cook and it made her happy then you were more than willing to go along with it. 

“I mean, as long as we aren’t intruding or anything.” 

“Oh no, not at all! It will be fun.” Toriel insisted, so you agreed, delighting both children.


	14. Cheesy Puns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pizza, friends, puns, and panic attacks.
> 
> GUYS IF YOU READ THIS CHAPTER WHEN IT WAS FIRST POSTED PLEASE GO BACK AND READ THE CHAPTER "Play School" Because I GOOFED IT ALL UP and posted these two chapters backwards.  
> I have no clue why I'm being such a mess today that I didn't notice!

The walk to the pizza place was upbeat and filled with fun, light-hearted conversation and laughter. Toriel translated for Frisk even as Morrigan attempted to mimic her gestures. With Toriel bridging the language gap between Frisk and Morrigan as they chatted about soccer and the play, you were secretly glad that left very little room for you to make idle chit-chat. A lot of things were building up in your mind and it had you on edge. Sometimes you just wanted to quietly listen while you sorted through it all.

You followed slightly behind the other three, almost on autopilot as old thoughts, old wounds threatened to resurface and fester all over again. You did your best to push them down, you were practiced at that. 

Shaking the thoughts away, you realized you had arrived somewhere. You looked around to take in where you were. It obviously wasn’t some big chain restaurant. It was a little local place. Not some hole in the wall, but more like a comfortable mom and pop style thing. You didn’t recognize it and it sounded like it was titled after some family name. It had an easy-going charm to it, like a place that had love poured into it, like the owners would treat regulars like family.

As the children became distracted, Frisk leading Morrigan to a booth by the window and pointing to various items on the menu, Toriel turned her attention to you. You let yourself fall into conversation. It was surprisingly easy. You didn’t know if it was just because of the time you had to decompress or because Toriel was easy to talk to. It was likely some combination of the two, but before you knew it you were telling her about the disaster of spaghetti you made with Papyrus the other day. The two laughed as you recounted the fun you had that easily made up for the fact that the food didn’t turn out that well. 

“hey tori, this guy came in earlier and asked me ‘will my pizza be long?’ and i said, ‘no sir, it’ll be round.’” came the familiarly deep voice.

Toriel snorted abruptly, clasping one furry, white paw over her mouth to stifle the sudden laughter as she braced herself on the table with the other. “Oh Sans, that’s awful.” 

Your eyes darted up and, sure enough, there he was. The short skeleton looked much the same as he did last time you saw him, except now he wore an apron over his jacket. He held a small notebook in his hand and leaned casually against the booth as he spoke with Toriel.

You had no idea how you left things with him, you rushed out of Grillby’s but even before then it was hard to get a read on him. You really didn’t know what kind of impression you made, rushing out the way you did after your awkward attempt at socializing. Staring at him now with big deer caught in the headlights eyes was almost definitely not doing anything to win you any points either. He however, was entirely ignoring you in favor of Toriel’s attention.

“aw c’mon it wasn’t that cheesy, was it?” his ever present smile seemingly widening just the tiniest bit.

“Well, I don’t think I will be topping that one at least.” Toriel snickered at her own quip, so easily lost into the routine like it was old and familiar. 

“either way you should probably order, i knead the dough.” Sans’s expression shifted so slightly it was hard to explain how his smile became a smirk.

Frisk jumped in, reminding you of where you were and grounding you in the reality of the situation as she signed exuberantly to the skeleton.

Sans chuckled, and you wondered if she had joined in making a pun of her own, but it was lost on you as the conversation shifted.  
“the usual then, kid?” He asked, his notebook that you assumed was for taking orders wasn’t even raised.

She nodded and Sans turned to Toriel with a questioning look.

“For me as well, and whatever our guests are having, oh and of course it is my treat.” Toriel responded, turning from her friend to smile at you.

You were not really ready to have the attention shifted onto you like that. You opened your mouth to speak but no sound came out, so you closed it again instead choosing to chew on your bottom lip. After a second you were ready to try again, this time finding your voice, “Really you don’t have to trouble yourself, I can cover it really.” Your sounded wrong to yourself, too weak, defensive. It hurt to hear.

“It is no trouble I assure you, it would make me feel so much better for asking you along at the last moment if you allowed me to pay.” Toriel insisted in a way that made it hard to argue without awkwardly getting tangled into a discussion that could go back and forth, unable to go against her natural mother hen behavior.

“I-I… You don’t have to, I can,” you let out a flustered breath, “take care of it.” You threw it out as a last ditch effort, unable to give up your point without at least an attempt.

“I am sure you are perfectly capable of doing so, but I would like to.” She rebuffed good naturedly with a soft smile and a gentle pat of her hand over yours.

“Ok.” 

You could feel Sans watching you throughout the exchange. It felt cold, detached. You could feel your stomach twist unpleasantly.

“What’ll it be.” Sans droned, the special tone he had reserved for Toriel and Frisk dropped, leaving only the superficial masquerade of polite service.

“I want cheese pizza please mister.” Morrigan piped up for the first time in a while, pulling herself away from the drawing she was doing with Frisk in her notebook. It seemed to throw Sans off as much as it did you. She was so innocently excited for everything. The way she thrummed her fingers against the table, it calmed you.  
“Yeah, one slice of cheese pizza and one pepperoni.” You ordered, finding your voice again as you smiled at your niece. She made it so easy to share in her happiness.  
He nodded distractedly but smiled as he pulled his notebook up for the first time and scribbling into it and wandering off. 

You stared out of the window, admittedly you were in a bit of a mood, but even you didn’t know why anymore. Was it all of the shit you were dealing with, or was it because that guy didn’t seem to like you. That was a weird thought, because you didn’t really think of yourself as the type to get worked up over that. Maybe it was because the coldness seemed sudden, or that it seemed like it was your fault. It hurt you more to think that it was going to alienate you from Morrigan’s life or ruin this friendship for her somehow. All you had to do was be nice, and you have no idea where you failed. You sighed, trying to push those thoughts down with the others but it only made you feel heavier. You instead just stared out at the puddles that littered the parking lot.

“What do you think?” Toriel’s voice finally filtered back into your consciousness. You turned to look at her and you were met with her expectant face. “Are you alright?” Her face fell a bit.

“Hm? No, I’m fine, I must of zoned out for a moment.” Your smile was slightly forced, but you were happy for the distraction.

“alright, ‘za’s up.” came Sans’s voice effectively ending that distraction.

Sans served the table reciting the orders back as he went, “that’s one house salad for the lady,” he said with a wink placing the plate in front of Torel. “one sausage and pepperoni for the kid,” he placed another plate in front of Frisk. “one slice of cheese,” a plate in front of Morrigan. “and one pepperoni.” he finished, finally setting your plate in front of you.

For a long moment all you could do was stare at it. It did in fact have one pepperoni, as in the topping and not the full pizza slice. You were utterly dumbfounded, torn between hysterical laughter and a deep guttural noise of rage and anguish. One lone pepperoni sat sadly in the middle of your plate and you could you feel your eye twitch as everything you’ve been pushing down deeply into a pit of your mind threatened to rise back up and overtake you.

You looked from the table to Sans to find that damned smile was wider than normal, it looked smug and satisfied. Toothy and familiar so damn familiar, it reminded you of… Something in you felt like it was going to snap at that memory.

You could feel a noise oddly similar to a growl bubbling up your throat, but the tables laughter forced you to squash it down in favor of a deep breath. Instead you stood muttering a quick excuse to the table as you left, but it felt like you were fleeing. You needed air. You couldn’t get it down right, it was a struggle. The sensation of drowning overwhelmed you, and you desperately needed air. You blindly wandered outside and slammed yourself against the wall gasping down as many breaths of the cold autumn air as you could stand in an attempt to calm yourself. Your fingers itched for the customary relief of a cigarette, but you had none. You had quit, but moments like this reignited the need deep inside of you for the comfort of the old habit. 

Your heart beat painfully in your chest, the very air felt oppressive, your eyes stung as tears welled. You refused to let them fall as you sunk further down the wall to sit on the pavement. You didn’t even know what you were running from really, nothing had happened. A silly joke, and you overreacted. You were over tired, over stressed, and you just made a big stupid scene. 

The word stupid circled in your mind viciously. 

You could see the blue hoodie in your peripheral vision, but you had not heard him approach. You must have been so lost inside your mind that you had no clue how long you had been sitting against the wall. It hardly felt real. He didn’t get too close to you, like you were a cornered animal that he was afraid would lash out. You took a deep breath, and held it before exhaling, slowly staring down at your shoes as some sort of waypoint, something to keep in focus. You want to say something, to tell him it wasn’t his fault, but speaking felt like a monumental task.

He seemed to be waiting for you to get your breathing under control, because you knew he was there, but he didn’t say anything. You wondered how long he had been watching you and didn’t know if the thought of him there was comforting or disquieting. 

“it was just’a joke ya know?” he sighed, pressing his back into the wall beside you. “maybe it wasn’t that humerus though.”  
You didn’t look up at him, you couldn’t yet. 

You settled for nodding, the movement felt slow and stiff, like you were just learning how to operate your body.

“look, i don’t know exactly what’ta say here, and you aren’t exactly giving me much to work with.”

A beat passed where silence stretched out between you, and in your mind, you were screaming but you couldn’t force a sound out.

Sans sighed loudly and slid down the wall so he was sitting as well. “i don’t really do the whole talkin’ it out thing that well but uh… you ok? like i know i’m scary but i didn’t mean to make you jump outta your skin or nothin’”

That got a weak huff of breath that could pass for a laugh out of you.

“It’s not you, not really. Just…” You bit your lip, shaking your head in an attempt to clear it. “didn’t sleep well I guess?” 

“hm.” he hummed instead of really answering.

“And you’re not really that scary. I mean, everyone is kind of scary.”

“yeah monsters are spooky.”

“No I mean…" you waved your hands uselessly. "Everyone.” You instantly regretted saying anything, “Hey, that’s life right? I think I’m fine now. I’m good, don’t worry about me.” You put on a smile and lifted your head to look at him.


	15. Calm After the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas and all the various winter solstice holidays! I'm dropping a new chapter on you for the holidays. I hope you enjoy it, and as always don't be afraid to leave a comment and tell me what you think, or anything you want to say. :)

Morri and Vincent had sprawled out on the floor filling in her coloring books with the wide variety of crayons fanned out around them. You had taken up your favorite place on the couch, curled up, watching them over the top of the 3ds in your hands. Calm on your cozy couch, with your close-knit family pleasantly together, you smiled. 

Something began to vibrate in your pocket, pulling your attention to your phone. You fished it out and saw Papyrus’s name and number flash on the screen. Your smile widened and you quickly opened the message.  
‘FOR NO REASON IN PARTICULAR, WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW, HUMAN?’ 

If anyone else texted you in all caps all the time it would wear on you, but it fit so well with the actual enthusiasm Papyrus put behind everything and it was quickly endearing you to your new friend.

You texted back, ‘Oh im just playing this puzzle game. What about you?’ and put your phone down on the arm of the couch. Though, it quickly buzzed again, so instead you set down your game in favor of talking to him.

‘YOU LIKE PUZZLES?!? YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY A HUMAN OF A HIGH CALIBER!’ 

You chuckled at the response. ‘I’ll show it to you sometime soon if you want’

Just as you finished your text, the door was thrown open, but you didn’t even look up. You didn’t need to to know it was Gabriel barging through without knocking.  
“Morri, I’m home!” He announced dramatically to the room, causing his daughter to giggle and rush towards him. 

“Daddy!” she squealed, easily jumping into his waiting arms to be caught and swung around.

“What did you do today, MorMor?” He asked, settling her against his hip.

You cringed preemptively as Morrigan began to settle into telling the long story of her day. You couldn’t pretend that you didn’t see his face fall during a few moments of it, but he was quick to hide it. You weren’t able to watch as she got to the the part about the pizza place, unable to bring yourself to face the questioning look you knew he was giving you.

“Sounds fun, MorMor, why don't you get your stuff together so we can go home? Don't forget to say thank you.” 

“Mhmm!” She replied as he kissed her forehead before setting her down. She went back over to Vincent who helped her pick up her crayons.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?” He asked you in a lower voice as he tilted his head towards the kitchen.  
You nodded and walked with him the short distance for a more private conversation.

“Are you ok?” You asked when you were far enough away.

His eyebrows furrowed as he frowned. “What me? Why wouldn't I be ok?”

You shrugged, suddenly feeling silly and hypersensitive for even suggesting it.

“I was going to ask you the same thing, you've been jumpy and out of it. Is it getting bad again?” 

“I'm fine. Haven't been sleeping well.” You waved off the concern.

“It sounds like you had an anxiety attack.” 

“I was just tired.” You insisted.

He sighed and looked as though he was going to try and press further, but decided against it. “Look, I come to you when I'm not ok. You know you can come to me right?”

“Of course, Gabe, but I'm fine really.”

“Toriel seems to think it's her friend's fault. Do I have to find this Sans and give him a talking to?”

“What? No he just… got caught in the middle of it. Please don't bother him. It would only embarrass me further.”

“Oh, I'm an embarrassment now? A guy can't protect his baby sister anymore?” Gabriel's tone finally shifted back to a more comfortable one, light-hearted and teasing.

“Baby sister? You do know you’re not that much older than me, right? And I don't need your protection.” 

“Somebody has to look after you.”

“I look after me.”

“And Vincent, and Morrigan, and me.”

You frowned. “What are you saying?”

He sighed, “I just wish you wouldn't take on so much. You make everyone else your responsibility, but you won’t let anybody take care of you.”

“Look, I appreciate your concern, but-”

“Just promise you’ll call me if things aren’t alright.” He interrupted, “You made me promise the same thing you know.”

“That’s dif-” You sighed. “I promise, ok?”

“Good.” he pulled you into a deep hug. It was tight, but not a vice like Papyrus’s. It had more give, more warmth. You let yourself sink into it.

“Daddy!” Morrigan called from the living room, causing the moment to break.

You pulled away with a soft smile. You didn’t know if Gabriel knew how much you appreciate him, how protective he was. He cared so much and you tried so hard to make sure he was happy and taken care of. You watched them leave as you thought about what Gabriel had said.

You got back to your spot on the couch and noticed your abandoned phone and picked it up as Vincent scrolled through tv channels. You had a few messages, a couple from Alyphs about setting up a date for an ‘anime party’. She had sent several texts, basically holding the conversation by herself. You told her the next day off that you thought you could get around to going over. Undyne had sent you a text asking about where you work. You told her about your job. Also, Papyrus had sent you a text in enthusiastic agreement that he would love to see your game. 

“I somehow went from hardly ever leaving the house and using my phone as a clock, to getting invited out all the time and having my phone blow up. What the fuck?” You said more to yourself than Vincent.  
He answered anyway, “Don’t forget us little people now that you’re all popular.” 

You snorted, “You don’t have to worry about that. Trust me.” 

It wasn’t unpleasant, though, to have more people to talk to. In fact, it was kind of nice. Odd, but nice. You spent so long only being close to to family, and of course Vincent who has been pretty much your only friend since middle school. You of course had people you went to college with or worked with, but you never really got that close to any of them. 

You found yourself hoping that these monsters don’t end up falling through the cracks all your other friends had. Except for Vincent who stuck with you through everything. 

“Imma drag you with me through this.”

“Ugh, it’s highschool all over again.” He joked, finally settling on a channel, though he wasn’t really watching it.

You let yourself really relax for the first time all day.


End file.
